The Forgotten Son
by Sujika
Summary: The mute Titan Jericho has gone missing, but who could have taken him? And why? The others would more than likely know these answers...If only Jericho hadn't kept that secret from them...[T for some violence, no pairings]
1. One Less Than Perfect

**Okay this is my first Teen Titans fanfic. It is NOT a pairing, because well...I figured we have eneough of those, and besides that, my favorite character is the star of this fanfiction: Jericho! Yes, the little blond with the big green eyes who posesses people. Side note, no, this isn't based on the comics, though it does have some information from the comics that wern't mentioned in the animated series.**

**I'm pretty much going to say this once: I don't own Teen Titans, or any of the characters in this fic. It also gets a little graphic in future chapters, just so your warned. If you don't like that kind of thing, I would suggest not reading this...**

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The Forgotten Son

Ch.1 - One less than Perfect

"Right, good work Pantha," Robin checked off her area, all was well. There were only a few Titans left to check in, leaving their monthly reports with the main computer in the Jump City tower; Red Star was out on a mission, so his would be an hour or so late; Bushido was training, but was due to make the report in the next twenty minutes or so; Kid Flash had probably just forgotten.

The Boy Wonder sighed, knowing he would have to contact the last person on the list himself if he wanted the report at all…That was when he realized Kid Flash _wasn't_ the last one on the list; Jericho hadn't checked in either.

Usually, the muted boy would be one of the first to give his report, as a simple sign for 'ok' over the communicator, or he would send a message if something had gone wrong. Jericho was usually so prompt; Robin wondered how he had managed to miss the peculiarity of the matter. He picked up his communicator again, checking to make sure he hadn't missed it…No; there hadn't been a call from Jericho…Strange…

Rather than waiting, the team leader decided to call the blond boy. No response. That was strange as well. He tried again, and then once more, before the belief that something wasn't right had settled itself firmly into his mind.

"Cyborg, Try and get a lock on Jericho," Robin called to his half-robotic teem mate across the room. Hopefully, the absentee titan's communicator was still working.

"Right, I'm on it," responded Cyborg, as he started to work. He furrowed his eyebrow, finding it strange that the signal was exactly where the mute was supposed to be, on his mountain top. The half-machine man rather confusedly said "This says he's right there…Or at least his communicator is."

That didn't bode well with Robin. Again, he picked up the communicator, and this time he said "Robin to Herald, You there?" The Herald would certainly get to Jericho the fastest by going through his other dimension.

"Yeah, Herald Here. What is it Robin?" The other Titan's face appeared on the little screen as he picked up his communicator. He was a little confused. He had already made his report earlier in the day, so what could this be about?

"We're having trouble getting in touch with Jericho. Can you go see what's up?" The black-haired boy requested, hoping there wasn't really anything wrong…Maybe he was just being paranoid…

"No Problem. I'll report in when I'm done," The Herald replied, before closing his communicator and heading to see Jericho.

While they were waiting on Herald's report, both Bushido and Red Star had reported in, everything clear, and the Boy Wonder had finally managed to get a hold of the Kid Flash; Everything clear there too. That just left Jericho's report.

Not much after that, Herald called in with what he found.

"We've got a problem," said the blue-hooded Titan. He sounded worried.

"What?" Robin knew that if it had Herald worried, then it was probably one of the worse things he could think of.

"Take a look for yourself," Herald moved the communicator, so that Robin could see what he was seeing. Jericho's guitar was smashed, into many pieces, and his communicator lay damaged on the ground next to the rock he usually sat on. It was barely functional, really only enough so for the tracking mechanism to work.

The Herald had searched the entire mountain for any sign of Jericho, but the remnants of the guitar and communicator were the only sign that he had ever been there at all. Aside from that, the place seemed untouched.

"Any sign of him?" asked the dark-haired team leader, hoping there was some kind of a clue as to where the other Titan could have been…or been taken.

Herald looked back at the screen, "I can't tell anything. I think we should get Cyborg out here, maybe he can find something I couldn't see"

"Good idea," agreed the other with a nod. A missing Titan was more than enough cause for alarm.

Apparently Cyborg heard the conversation, thus with a nod to Robin, he started for the T-Ship. With any luck, he would be able to find things that normal humans (or as normal as the Titans came) would miss.

As Cyborg was leaving, Star entered. She saw the look on her friend's face, but before she could ask what was going on, Cy had hurried past her; He was in too much of a hurry to explain.

"Robin, what is the matter with Cyborg? He seems…Distressed," She asked, walking over to the computer which the team leader had moved to in Cyborg's stead, continuing the search by relaying messages to all of the others to keep an eye out for some sign of their mute friend.

The dark-haired boy had barely noticed her come in. His eyes remained fixed on the monitor he was working on as he replied, "We can't find Jericho. It looks like something might have happened to him."

Any number of ideas as to what could have happened were chasing each other around in Robin's mind, each a bit more unlikely than the last.

"Happened?" Starfire blinked, wondering what he meant exactly. What could possibly have caused them to simply loose the other Titan?

"Herald went to check it out…From the sight of things, he might have been taken against his will," Robin explained, remembering the sight of the smashed instrument. Certainly, he couldn't come up with any other legitimate explanations as to what would have caused Jericho to let that happen.

Star immediately showed once more how obviously she wore her heart on her sleeve. "If he is missing, then we must go and search for him!" it was clear she was worried. She counted each of the Titans as friends, and cared about them. As such, the Tamaranean would do everything in her power to protect them.

Robin sighed, realizing the redhead was ready to fly off at any moment to save their missing ally. "It's not that simple Star. Cyborg is going to see if he can find anything, but if he can't, we don't have any clues at all," He said, sounding a little frustrated with himself.

"If the clues are not found, do we not have some other way to find him?" she asked, hoping there was something they could do. Surely, they must have come up with another way of keeping track of the Titans after that fiasco with the Brotherhood.

The Boy Wonder shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, we don't," he replied grimly. True, they had something in the works, but it wasn't ready yet…If it had been, this wouldn't have been happening…Now all they could do was to wait.


	2. Rescued?

**Alright! Second chapter. Here's the comic influence. ** **Pay attention to details, they might come back later! Well, okay, Jericho is finally in the chapters. Sorry these are so short...I'm trying as best I can.**

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Ch. 2 – Rescued?

It hurt…Jericho's head was pounding. The feeling of dried blood in his hair was unmistakable. He could barely think straight. The blond opened his eyes; only to find them covered…Clearly someone knew his power, and wasn't intending to give him the chance to use it.

The mute tried to get up, only to find that his hands were actually tied to the pole he seemed to be leaning against. Silently he struggled to get them loose, but it was pointless. They weren't budging. His hands hurt…The ropes were extremely tight around his thin wrists.

He stopped struggling against his bonds a moment, wracking his brain trying to recall what had happened to get him into this situation…

The last thing he could remember had been playing his guitar…When he thought he heard something, and turned around, something hit him on the back of the head…He barely remembered seeing his guitar fall to the ground, a little broken, only to be stepped on and broken into more pieces…Then his eyes slid closed and it was dark.

Jericho wanted to call the Titans, but by the feel of it, his communicator was gone…With his hands bound the way they were, he probably wouldn't have been able to get to it anyway.

There were footsteps coming toward him. His head swiveled instinctively to look, despite the blindfold, to see who was coming.

"So you're finally awake…"The voice was eerie…Chilling, and strangely kind and somehow even familiar to the bound boy. The man's footsteps stopped right in front of him. His voice was suddenly louder, leading Jericho to assume that he had crouched down closer.

The bound boy silently sneezed. It was dusty, wherever he was…The man didn't seem to have noticed.

"I didn't mean for it to be like this, you know…But I saw what they had done to you. They tricked you…I couldn't simply allow you to remain with those Titans, knowing they were going to hurt you," The man's voice was so convincing, but Jericho was confused.

Hurt him? The Titans? No, that didn't seem right at all. Why would they hurt him? They were his friends.

The bewildered look must have shown on his face even without the expression of his eyes, for then the man said "I know you might find this hard to believe, Jericho," How did this person know his name? "But I really did this for your own good. You were trying so hard to keep me a secret…"

Secret…Jericho only had one secret, and it was something he prayed the other Titans would never find out about…He shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. If it was true that they knew though…Would they want to hurt him? The mute boy personally had never done anything wrong…but…Maybe that didn't matter…Would they blame him?

"If you promise not to use your power on me, I will remove your blindfold," the voice sounded trustworthy…But Jericho hadn't seen him in so long…The blond boy knew what the man before him had done. He knew very well that this person was known for his lies and deceit…But…

Almost as soon as the boy nodded, agreeing silently to refrain from taking possession of the man in front of him, the blindfold came off. Even with the black and orange mask, Jericho recognized his father. Slade Wilson met the bright green eyes of his son for the first time in years.

"I'm sure this must be a surprise… But when I realized that because of me, my son was in danger…I couldn't just let you be hurt," Slade really sounded like he cared…

Jericho shook his head again. He wanted to believe it, but he couldn't…After all the things Slade had done, how could he possibly believe just like that he had decided to become a good father?

Slade was silent a moment, recognizing the boy's disbelief. "This is why I had to restrain you…I knew you would never listen to me…"He almost sounded hurt, "…I appreciate that you once counted the Titans as friends…But they are my enemies, and I theirs. By virtue of that alone, Jericho, you are their enemy as well."

No, no this was so wrong! Jericho shut his eyes tightly, in disbelief. Slade was lying. His father always lied to him…Slade never cared about him! The Titans cared…They were his friends…Even if they did find out, they wouldn't hold it against him…

"I know this is hard to accept. I know you don't want to believe me…"The masked man's voice was growing quieter, speaking words his child never wanted to hear, but he spoke them with kindness, "…I had to get you out of there, for your own safety…"

Slade sighed, sounding as though he were exhausted. Suddenly, he seemed much more alert, as though an idea had suddenly come to him. "Jericho, join me. Let me make up for all the years I wasn't there for you," The little blond had always wanted his father to love him…was this his way of trying?

But joining Slade…The other Titans had told him how dangerous Slade was…Even though Jericho had personally never fought his masked father, the stories certainly got around…But what if those stories were really the lies?

Oh, his head hurt so much…Jericho couldn't process all this at once! Was Slade lying? Or was it the Titans? Which one could he trust?

"This must be a lot for you to take in…"Slade spoke again, his voice soft as though he were trying to comfort his son. Jericho didn't look up at him. The boy kept his eyes focused firmly on the stone floor.

Slade stood up straight again. "I'm afraid I can't untie you until you trust me a little more…"he said, making his way across the room. Once he reached the door, he stopped, in the frame, and said "I really am sorry, Jericho…I'll bring you some food down later," before disappearing out of sight.

Then Jericho had nothing to do but think.


	3. Realization

**Okay, anothere non-Jericho chapter, but it is important! Mostly details on the rescue effort. Still not very long, but I really am Trying, I promise you that...**

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Ch. 3 – Realization

It didn't take Cyborg very long to meet up with Herald. He had driven the T-ship as fast as it would go, hoping to check things out before the trail went cold. He found Herald standing off to the side, outside of the area where the pieces of the guitar were laying. Clearly the blue-clad Titan knew better than to poke around and disturb any clues.

"Anything you noticed yet?" asked the armored Titan as he approached the other. Maybe he had found something while Cyborg was on his way there…

Herald shook his head. "Nothing. Whoever took Jericho knew what they were doing," he replied, making it clear he assumed the worst.

"Well see if I can find anything…" Cyborg said, as he altered the sight on his robotic eye. Normally he had it functioning just like his other eye, a bit more focused maybe, but more or less the same. Now, he changed it to scan for things that would normally go unseen.

He looked over the area, now vastly different from how it had been before. Now the normal things were nothing but faded background, and what had previously been invisible was now clear as day.

The grass was pushed down in several different places in many different ways...There were small indents, many of which were overlapping in the grass, clearly the missing boy's own footprints. It was a well worn trail, and the grass remembered it…There were recent prints, only from earlier in the day, or perhaps late last night.

He could tell they weren't Herald's prints, because right in the area where the other Titan was standing a set of prints began, coming out of nowhere. Obviously this was where the portal had opened and the horn-playing boy had stepped out.

That was when Cyborg spotted a third set of prints, coming from behind the rock Jericho was so well known for playing his guitar on. They were careful strides heading towards it, as if the person who made them was walking slowly and quietly…They were bigger as well, clearly made by someone much taller and more than likely older than the Titans…The steps went directly behind the rock, and then around the front, straight through where the guitar had fallen, apparently somewhat intact until it had been crushed.

The same slightly larger footsteps leading away were more indented in the grass…There weren't any drag marks either…The owner of those feet must have been carrying Jericho, the added weight pressing more against the springy grass…

With that in mind, the robotic-man turned his eyes back to the mute boy's usual seating place. He noticed something strange then…there was a small streak along the base of the stone, and matching discoloration on the grass, but it looked as though whomever had attacked the missing Titan had tried to wipe it away.

Cyborg used his eye to capture the image of the area, to inspect it later if needed, and then carefully walked closer to the rock. He examined the substance on the grass and stone, his cybernetic eye taking in its composition…It was blood, no doubt about that.

"Looks like this is proof we've got a problem," he said to Herald, taking a picture of it to show later. He knew the other Titan couldn't see the blood, but he explained what he was seeing.

Herald knew what that meant without even having to think about it. That raised the question of whether Jericho was even still alive or not.

"No, he's still alive…Whoever did this went to all the trouble to sneak up on him and then carry him off…They would want to keep him alive…there isn't even much blood here…Looks like they just hit him once," Cyborg gave his theory on what had happened, not wanting to consider that possibility…Given, the evidence really was against it, but that didn't mean there wasn't still a chance…

"Maybe someone from the town spotted something unusual…"Suggested Herald, looking down at the town that had settled near Jericho's mountain. Considering how secluded the area was, they probably didn't get too many visitors, so anyone new would more than likely stick out.

"Good idea," said Cyborg as he straightened back up. He'd found all he could from the scene, so looking around elsewhere was a good next step to take. Besides, from the look of the larger footprints, they were indeed coming from the town.

With that, they headed down the mountain, hoping to find anyone who might have seen the person who took their friend.

At first, the people were rather wary of the two strangers. They didn't really seem to want to have anything to do with the masked boy in blue and the half-robot…That is, until they were informed that Jericho was missing. The quiet boy had always gone out of his way to help protect them if he could, and they were grateful for it. If he needed their help, then they would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Soon, any sighting of anything strange for the last month was being reported to the Titans. Usually, it wasn't something that particularly unusual, like a wild animal lingering on the outskirts of town for a few days. However, there was one little girl who came with her mother, who seemed to have seen something more.

"Go on honey, its for brother…"Said her mother, obviously meaning Jericho, urging the little redheaded girl forward. The child looked up at her mother warily, then crept towards them, clutching her raggedy doll in what seemed like a vice grip.

"Did you see something that could help us?" asked Herald, as he crouched down so his masked eyes met hers. The girl was quiet for a moment, and then she spoke up.

"…Um…I saw…the funny man heading for the place where big brother lives...I wuzzn't suppose'ta be awake…"The child had a slightly higher pitched voice, and a little bit of a lisp. She was obviously nervous about telling them she had stayed up late in front of her mother, but willing to do it for the missing Titan.

"…Funny man? What did he look like?" Cyborg inquired kindly. He didn't want to make her any more nervous than she was, so he used his tone carefully.

She bit her lip slightly, looking up at him. "Yea-huh. The funny man with the black and orange mask like this." She said, as she covered the right half of her face with her hand.

"Black and…" Cyborg looked at Herald, and they both instantly came to the same realization; Jericho had been taken by Slade.

"Thank you for being so brave," said Herald, as he got up again. From there, they hurried back to Jump City.

Along the way, Cyborg had sent his report ahead to Robin, including the pictures he had taken, and the information they had gathered from the town. Immediately, the Boy Wonder had called the other Titans to share what they now knew.

Robin seemed to take the news that Slade was the revealed kidnapper even worse than they had expected. The masked man was his specialty, and Robin thought by now he should have been able to predict his moves…He should have been able to prevent this kind of thing.

After Cyborg and Herald arrived back at the tower, plans for the rescue started at once. They tried to consider every place they had known Slade to hide, analyzing each aspect that it seemed the villain took into choosing his next refuge. The one thing they seemed to have in common was that the Titans could never find it until Slade revealed it…But this time had to be different.

"Perhaps this is the location of the hiding-out," suggested Starfire, finding an article about an abandoned building on the west side of Jump city. For a moment, that seemed to be a decent idea, until they realized it was scheduled for demolition the day before yesterday, and was already gone.

"This is so hopeless!" said Robin, slamming his fists down on to the table before him. He was frustrated. Where could Slade be?

After realizing Jump City didn't hold the answers they needed, Robin sent out word for the other Titans around the world to seek out possible locations. There was no question about whether or not they would look; Jericho was one of their own. He was a Titan, just like them, and would do the same for any of them.

For hours, reports poured in from the other Titans, all of them with not even the slightest trace of Slade, but assurances that they would continue to search.

In Steel City, Más y Menos had not only checked all of their city in only minutes, but three surrounding cities. Bumblebee never stopped searching from the sky. Aqua Lad had the entire ocean, from fish to whales on the look out for even the faintest trace of anything remotely unusual. Speedy organized all of the Titans East efforts down to the minute, keeping the search as all encompassing as possible.

Thunder and Lightning were traveling separately, searching, and relaying messages when other Titans with the gift of flight reached altitudes the communicators weren't equipped to work at.

Bushido, through contacts from his sword training, had just about every inch of Japan covered.

Kole and Gnarrk had ventured out of their cave, and were keeping the Artic Circle under close observation; if Slade showed his mask there, they would find him.

Red Star was using some of his remaining connections with the Russian military to keep an eye on all border crossings going anywhere in or out of the country. If the masked villain was reckless enough to try and get through, they would catch him for certain, and if he was already inside, it was only a matter of time until they found him.

To get information from inside the H.I.V.E., Jinx still had a few friends who would be willing to keep their ears open and eyes alert incase someone made any unusual hires for a team of students. No missions would go on in the villain school without her knowing about them.

Kid flash had been running laps around the world looking for anything he might find unusual…and to show how dedicated he was to finding Jericho and Slade, he hadn't even stopped to flirt with the variety of girls he passed.

However, even with these increased measures, there was still no sign of either of them.


	4. Betrayal?

**And here is that graphic chapter I promised was coming. Avert your eyes, readers, if you don't like this kind of thing. You have been warned! Again, its kind of short...You know, I should just stop saying that, since they are ALL relatively short...Sorry. Well, here it is. You'll either be really confused, or get it completely, depending if you got the hint in the second chapter.  
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Ch. 4 – Betrayal?

Jericho sat on the cold floor of the dark room, his stomach empty and his mind far too full. He had been pulling on the ropes holding him to the pole for the last hour, stopping now only because his wrists were raw and bleeding ever so slightly.

He stared miserably at the cracked cement floor, wishing he were back at home on his mountaintop…His attention was abruptly diverted from the ground when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway behind the door through which his father had earlier left. The boy thought that at least now, Slade would be bringing him something to eat…

However, what he saw was not his father; it was his friends! Robin came through the door first, then Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Herald, Pantha, Hot Spot, Bumblebee, and Red Star! The Titans had managed to find him! His eyes lit up, so very glad to see them.

"There he is…" Said Robin, sounding a little angry. Jericho looked at him in surprise. Was something wrong?

That was when the little blond realized it; they all seemed angry…Sharp, cold glares came at him from every angle…

Robin suddenly grabbed onto the front of his shirt, pulling him up just a little, Jericho's eyes widening in shock as he did so. "Traitor. You were working with him the whole time, weren't you!?" The Boy Wonder was practically shouting at him.

Jericho shook his head, not knowing how else to respond. With his hands tied as they were, he couldn't exactly sign his explanation. Before he realized quite what was happening, he felt knuckles connecting with the side of his head.

Robin dropped him to the ground, the side of the mute's head dripping blood ever so slightly. The poor boy looked up at the other Titans, confused, and wondering how they could think such a thing.

"You have committed the betrayal most heinous!" said Starfire, eyes illuminated, and Starbolts ready. Suddenly one was released, skimming across Jericho's shoulder just barely missing his head.

"To think we trusted you…"Hot Spot stepped forward, kicking the captive straight in the chest, setting his shirt slightly aflame as he did so.

The next event was bitter sweet; as Pantha landed several blows to his torso, she broke several ribs, but at least it put out the fire.

From off to the side, he heard Raven's voice, "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos!_" only to find that her power was lifting him off the ground by his neck and holding him against the pole, little more than a living punching bag for the Titans as it would seem.

For what seemed like ages, the merciless beating continued. Jericho took the assault, unable to call for help or even cry out as one impact after another landed, causing him to wish he would simply die and have it over with.

The Titans it seemed however weren't ready to let him go just yet. Broken bones; yes, fine…even encouraged by the others. Internal bleeding; as long as it wouldn't kill him it was fine. Bleeding; sure, the more crimson he spilled, the better. Death would wait until they were sure they had him worn down to the very last threads of his life, and then they would finish him.

"Just hurry it up already! Let's kill him! Kill the Traitor!" called Beast Boy's voice from the back of the small crowd. Jericho, barely conscious at this point, sighed a small relief at this, almost thinking it would be better than what he was going through now, all because of who his father was…

Laugher rang throughout the room, each of the Titan's voices echoing against the walls as Raven dropped him. The blond lay on the cement on his side, arms contorted to a strange angle, and slowly, tears leaked out of Jericho's eyes, running down his cheeks until they splashed down onto the floor.

They were laughing at his pain. He felt one of Cyborg's feet collide with his already battered chest, hearing another pop as another broken rib was added to the mix.

Robin crouched down in front of Jericho, and in a quiet, almost caring voice said "You know why we're doing this don't you? You shouldn't have betrayed us. You scum…We know you were working with him!" the sharp blade of a birdarang skimmed across the prisoner's cheek.

The Boy Wonder was just toying with him now, Jericho knew that…Another cut appeared along his upper arm, a little deeper this time. The boy flinched in pain, but knew there was nothing at all that he could do to stop it.

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice? Your just like him…You're the same, maniacal, devious…evil," said the dark-haired one. A glance over his shoulder, and Hot Spot stepped forward.

He walked around behind the bound figure, and pressed his flaming hands upon the boy's back. The smell of singed flesh rose with the smoke into the air, and a silent scream tried to make its way past Jericho's lips; Drops of water ran down his face like rain. He shut his eyes tightly against the pain, hoping it would stop, hoping he would pass out, hoping he would die then and there…

Finally, Hot Spot removed his palms from the blonde's back, and the boy curled up as best he could into a ball, hoping to prevent any further attacks, despite the fact that there was hardly any part of him left unscathed.

Next he felt Raven's power taking hold of him again, lifting him off the ground. It wrapped around his body, slowly crushing him…Elbows into broken ribs, shoulders popping out of sockets, his chest simply being compressed like an empty soda can.

Then, she dropped him again, back onto the cold, stone floor. He didn't have long to think though, before a tiger walked up and sat next to him. The boy's eyes grew wide as a giant green-striped paw with inch long claws came swiping down at him. Long, bloody gashes appeared in one spot after another all over him, ripping clothing and flesh alike.

Silent sobbing left the battered form on the ground, bleeding onto the ground. Why couldn't this pain just stop?


	5. Hope

**Thanks to this chapter, there may or may not be a cameo in the near future. Review, and tell me what you think. Depending on the responses I get, I either will, or won't add him in.**

**EDIT: Erm...Alteration. The chapter no longer explains my hint from Ch. 2. That'll happen later. Sorry! **

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**Ch. 5 – Hope**

Ever since the search of Jump City had finished, Raven had been completely out of sight. Wherever she had gone, it was certainly unusual that she would just leave when a friend of hers was in peril.

Robin headed up onto the roof to think, only to find that this was where the dark-haired girl had gone. She floated just a few feet above the ground, legs crossed, muttering her usual mantra. She opened one eye to look at him as the door to the roof closed behind him.

"Raven, what are you doing up here…?"He asked, as he walked over to her. He recognized the position as her meditation, but why now?

"…I've been trying to find him," she explained rather plainly. Raven closed her eye again, and started to focus once more. At this, Robin was silent as he waited in hope of some kind of an answer they seemingly couldn't get any other way.

Raven took a deep breath, and softly spoke again, "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos…_" allowing her mind to wander, searching for that familiar sense she got from each of those she called her friends. Scattered though they were, Raven could pick them all out like little dots of light on a globe in her mind.

She knew where they were supposed to be, where they weren't, and then…there it was. She was starting to get a vague sense of Jericho, but something seemed to be trying to hold her back.

The cloaked girl focused her mind a little more, but the most she could do was narrow it down to somewhere near by a city…Off hand, she didn't know which one it was, but it seemed there were no other Titans anywhere near it…How strange…Most of the world's cities had protection from a hero of some sort…

Finally she opened her eyes, and put her feet onto the roof. "I've got something," she said, looking over at the Boy Wonder.

That was the first good news he'd heard in quite some time. "Something? Like what?" Robin asked, hoping she could be a little more specific.

"Lets go back downstairs, I'm going to need a map," she replied, walking past him and down the stairwell. Once inside, they were joined by Cyborg, Star, BB, and Herald, and then immediately pulled up a picture of a map on the computer, and Raven scanned it searching for the city.

Her violet hues searched inch after inch, until she spotted the area in question. "There! That's it. He's somewhere…Somewhere near there," she said, as she placed her finger on a dot on the map…a dot labeled Gotham City.

Robin gazed in amazement at the location…He could hardly believe this had happened…Jericho was so close to where his whole crime-fighting career had begun…

"I didn't sense any other Titans in that area, but it seems like a fairly large city…" she said, trying to recall everything she had found out.

"It doesn't need one…Gotham has a hero of its own," said Robin calmly. He seemed a little distracted in all honesty.

"Maybe we can ask him for a hand, you think?" asked BB, thinking that it would help to have someone who knew about the area helping them.

"We don't need his help, we'll be fine on our own," Robin snapped in reply. His pride was getting the best of him. No, he didn't want to ask if he didn't have to…He didn't want to admit that he might need help when leading his Team.

Robin's response had sort of made it clear to the others the topic was now closed. "Come on, lets get to the T-ship," he added, quickly making for the hanger.

"Er…Right," said Cyborg, surprised at just how touchy the Boy Wonder had suddenly become. Regardless, they followed after him.

After twenty minutes in the air, they were getting closer to Gotham. Raven began focusing again, trying to get a better lock on Jericho.

She rose a few inches off her seat, eyes closed, sensing the same thing as before. Now however, when she focused rather than getting nothing more than a vague location, she found Jericho's mind.

Unlike when she had entered Robin's mind in the past, she did not see flashes of his past, and met no resistance...She did however see something most unsettling; herself…And Robin, Starfire…Cyborg and Beast Boy…Hotspot, Herald, Bumblebee, Pantha, and Red Star…What was going on?

After the less than one second it took her to realize who the people surrounding Jericho were, the pain hit; burning, searing, blinding pain. That was why the boy hadn't put up any resistance to her…Oh how it hurt! Everything ached…Was this the future?

Her question was quickly answered as the Robin she could see made sharp, painful cuts on the body she was visiting. She broke the connection, out of breath and panicking.

"Raven, what's the matter?" asked Robin, looking at her from his own pilot's seat. The last thing he needed was for her to be out of commission.

"…We have to hurry. I'm not sure what's going on, but whatever it is, its killing him," she said with alarm. When she spotted their confused looks she elaborated, "…I think he must be hallucinating…"

That was not the news that the rest of the team wanted to hear. "What do you remember seeing?" asked Robin, wanting as much information as she could give him. He was typing something into his council.

"…It was a basement, I think…No windows…It looked maybe abandoned…" she said, not really having been able to focus on much beside the very nearly unbearable amount of agony her temporary host had been in. "Why do you ask?"

"…He's going to want to know anything we can tell him…"Robin muttered, as he added in what Raven had said, and sent the information as well as a request for assistance to the one person he knew could help…The man who had taught him everything.


	6. Salvation

**Right! Okay, now that everyone has hopefully understood what is going on, this should make more sence...I hope...**

* * *

Ch. 6 - Salvation

Jericho hadn't thought this was possible. He hadn't believed the other Titans were capable of such cruelty. Oh how he wished that he had never joined them; that he had just stayed by himself…'Raven' was holding him back up in the air, choking his ever so slightly.

"This is getting old Robin, lets just do this," said 'Herald' seeming annoyed by how long they had let this drag on.

"Fine, it's about time we finish the trash off anyway…" said 'Robin', taking out a birdarang and putting the corner of it up against the mute's throat.

At that moment, more footsteps were heard coming down the hallway. 'The Titans' turned to see who was trying to walk in on their task. 'Raven' absentmindedly dropped Jericho onto the floor, where he landed with a dull 'thud', and sat motionless.

As it happened, this time it really was Slade, bringing a tray of food for his child. As soon as he saw what was going on, he dropped the tray and rushed to help Jericho.

"Titans, GO!" shouted 'Robin', as they turned their attention away from the battered boy and onto his father.

Of course, Slade threw several smoke pellets onto the ground, allowing him a thick grey cover. Not even 'Cyborg's' eye was likely to see through that cloud.

The little prisoner could hear the sounds of fighting in the blankness. From the sounds of it, the Titans were getting several good hits in on Slade, but for the most part his father seemed to be winning.

Suddenly Jericho felt something small and sharp inserted into his neck; he only assumed it was 'Robin' trying to finish him off, but it was pulled away as quickly as it had come…Then he heard footsteps, running toward the door, they were leaving…If only he knew that Slade had really just given him the antidote for the hallucinogen.

As the smoke cleared, Slade was the only one left in the room besides the mute himself. The masked man's outfit was ripped at the shoulder, and he was holding one arm which was bleeding slightly. Of course, there never really had been anyone else, and Slade inflicted the injuries upon himself.

"Are you alright Jericho?" he asked, as he hurried over to his son, and hurriedly untied him.

Was this really happening? Slade had just saved his life…the life his so-called 'friends' had just been trying to end.

The masked man picked the mute boy up, and carried him upstairs and set him down on a bed in a room, though Jericho didn't really pay any attention to what was going on. Everything just hurt so much…

"This might hurt, but just stay with me…" Slade's voice sounded so concerned, but determined to help him. Suddenly the wound on the side of the blonde's head where 'Robin' had punched him burned slightly…He recognized the feeling a little; Slade was cleaning his injuries.

The wounds from the Beast Boy's tiger claws and the burns hurt the most…Slade carefully removed his son's shirt, so he could treat the wounds…He put a little bit of alcohol on each injury, and then wrapped them tightly in clean white bandages.

Indeed, it really did hurt quite a lot as the cuts, gashes, and burns were cleaned and bandaged, including his ripped up wrists, but once it was over Jericho did feel a little better.

When he was finished, Slade let out a sigh of what seemed to be relief. He lay the boy carefully down, putting his head on the pillow gently, and then putting a blanket over him.

Slade seemed so worried about him, Jericho wondered if maybe he really had died…He had always wanted his father to be there, to be an actual father for him…and now here he was.

The masked man was quiet for a moment, with his head in his hands, before he looked up into the green orbs that so willingly met his gaze, and held no resistance to him. "…I'm sorry you had to find out that I was telling you the truth like this, Jericho..."he said, so convincing, so seemingly apologetic…

The boy looked away for a moment. He certainly hadn't wanted things to go like this either…He never wanted them to know. He never wanted them to turn on him…He never wanted to feel so alone again.

"…I know this might be hard for you, but…Now, I would like you to consider my offer again…Join me. Together we can stop the Titans before they hurt anyone else," said Slade, hoping that his son had changed his mind by now...After all, that if that wasn't a convincing argument, he really would be amazed.

Out of habit, the mute boy signed his answer, not really expecting Slade to realize what he had said.

"…Of course, you can take all the time you need..."Replied his father, apparently having understood when Jericho asked for more time to think. He seemed extremely supportive of the boy.

The blonde was surprised, but glad that the man before him was so willing to let him take things at his own time, not to mention that his father even managed to understand what he had said…Maybe it had been the Titans who lied to him about Slade…They certainly didn't seem like they would lose any sleep over what they had done to him…

"Would you like me to stay with you…?" asked the man in the mask, acting much like the parent Jericho always wanted…Which was precisely what he was trying so hard to do.

Jericho looked around the room…Dark blue walls, and dark purple carpet…Slade had made this room just for him, in the same colors as his outfit…That was when he noticed there weren't any windows in this room either…Was his father trying to keep him in? Or to keep the Titans out?

The mute finally turned his attention back to the eye showing from behind the mask, and shook his head; he didn't want to keep his father if there was anything he should be doing.

Slade sighed, and stood, nodding his head slightly. "Alright…Try to get some rest, then…"He said to the boy. As he was about to leave, he stopped, and glanced over to his son, "…Think about what I said, if you can…" and then he was gone.


	7. Fear

Ch. 7 – Fear

Robin's answer came within minutes; nothing fancy, just simple coordinates listing of an area which the local Gotham thugs had recently discovered they should avoid. Apparently, the 'local hero' of the city had been expecting something like this for a while.

"Cyborg, see if there are any buildings in this area that would fit Slade's M.O.," said Robin, transferring the information form his consol to the other Titan.

Within a minute, Cyborg found what they were looking for; an abandoned manor from the 20's...Decorative, out of the way, and easy to defend. It was yet another perfect hideout for Slade.

At once they made for the forsaken building, landing the T-Ship far enough away to keep from being detected. Rather than rush in, and risk Jericho's safety, the Boy Wonder decided to call in a little backup. Hot Spot, Pantha, Bumblebee, and Jinx had hitched a ride with Thunder and Lightning to get there as quickly as they could. The more Titans could make it, the better.

As soon as the others had arrived, the Titans moved in. The manor was eerily quiet, dim, and looked as though it were still very much abandoned…Save for the footprints going through the dust-cloaked carpet.

From what Cyborg had learned, the old building had two floors of wine cellars, which fit perfectly with the description Raven had given; no windows, and kept at relatively the same temperature year round. Considering that the tracks in the dust went mainly to the basement, that was more than likely where they would find the two they sought.

Of course, being quite an old building, it wasn't surprising that the floorboards creaked loudly underfoot. Despite their best efforts, the warped wooden planks couldn't help but groan as they approached the flight of stairs leading downward.

At once, the noise alerted Jericho of someone else's presence in the house. He was starting to feel better, but everything unnerved him…

It was at that moment, that Slade returned to his son's room. "Hurry," he whispered, as he picked the boy up out of his bed, and turned back toward the stairs. Just as they made it up one flight and turned for another, they met face-to-face with the real Teen Titans.

"Jericho! Slade, put him down," demanded Robin, but even before the dark-haired boy had finished his sentence, it was done.

"Jericho, run for it!" Slade said in an all-too-fatherly tone. This surprised the Titans, as the blond boy obeyed the masked man. He hobbled off as quickly as he could, obviously having been badly wounded recently.

"Wait, Jericho!" the Titans couldn't understand why their friend would be listening to someone like Slade…None the less, why he seemed so terrified suddenly.

The man in the mask too a defensive fighting stance apparently willing to fight all the Titans present at once. Fortunately, Pantha, Hot Spot, Herald, and Beast Boy managed to slip by him while Slade was distracted avoiding what would certainly have been painful hits from Robin and Cyborg, Starbolts from Starfire, and he had more than enough to pay attention to from Raven, not to mention the others he was fighting…or at least that's how it seemed.

By the time they caught up to Jericho, despite the fact he was so clearly injured, he was already outside behind the house, trying his best to get away. As they approached him, he stumbled, falling onto the ground with a rather painful sounding 'thud'. He spotted them following him at once, and tried to scramble uselessly to his feet.

"Jericho, wait, its us!" said Beast Boy, as they hurried over to him. Of course, the mute couldn't think of anything except very sharp green tiger claws as the other Titan spoke.

"What's wrong…?"asked Hot Spot, wondering why their friend was reacting so oddly…Jericho cringed, curling up in an effort trying to protect himself.

Herald carefully went over to the blond, putting a hand on his shoulder, but as soon as he did he met a tearful-green-glowing gaze, and Jericho possessed him.

"Jericho, what are you doing?!" said Beast Boy, confused as to why the Titan would use his powers against them.

"You won't hurt me again," said Herald's voice with Jericho's intent, as he opened a portal with one note, and closed it with another, before the others could stop him.

As suddenly as the one portal had closed, another opened; directly behind Slade Wilson, who wasn't faring entirely as well as he had perhaps hoped. When Robin and the other Titans saw Herald, they thought this was certainly a good thing, until he pulled the masked man into his other dimension, and closed it behind him.

"Robin! Something is really not right here!" said Beast boy, as he, Pantha, and Hot Spot came running back in.

"Where's Jericho?" asked the leader, wondering why he wasn't with them.

"He possessed Herald," said Hot Spot, obviously more than a little unsure of what was going on.

"But…" hadn't Herald just…Why would Jericho want to save Slade? That didn't make any sense…Slade had been the one who kidnapped him…

That was when a different, equally disturbing thought came to mind; now Slade had both Herald and Jericho…Instead of one missing Titan, now they had two…Well, unless the first had decided…

No. Robin didn't want to think like that…Jericho wouldn't simply betray them, would he? The mute boy had been a very powerful ally in the battle against the Brotherhood of Evil, and he had never shown any sign of anything but wanting to be friends with the rest of the Titans…

"He seemed so afraid of us…" said Hotspot, remembering the look on Jericho's face as he had taken control of Herald. It hadn't been one with any kind of malicious intent, he just looked like he wanted to protect himself.

"That's right! He said something…Erm, well, through Herald," Beast Boy explained, realizing how odd the concept of the mute having spoken really was once he said it out loud.

"Yes…He said… 'You won't hurt me again'…What does that mean?" asked Pantha, thinking that was something rather strange for him to say.

This left everyone fairly confused.

After the two groups had finally managed to explain to each other what had happened, and become perfectly confused, the main focus of their attention changed: What exactly had happened to Jericho?

Once back at the tower, Robin couldn't help but be angry…Not only had Slade gotten away, again, but he had either come up with a way to turn Jericho against the Titans, or control the boy.

Everything just frustrated him. Worse still, Herald was gone now too…They had obviously been too late in getting to the manor, and their masked enemy was clearly expecting them when they arrived.

Thunder, Lightning, Pantha, Jinx, Hot Spot, and Bumblebee were going to stay at the Jump City tower for a while, at least until they could figure out this mess…Given it made things a little crowded, but aside from Robin, the team seemed happy to have them…It was nice to have a way to keep their minds off the problem at hand, when they had nothing to go on.

Everyone was nervous, and worried for the two Titans, and no one could seem to figure out just why it was Jericho had saved Slade. Beside that point, where were they now? It had been difficult enough to find them the first time.

Even with the search effort remaining as it had been when just Jericho had been missing, the Titans around the world did need to keep up the defense in their areas; they couldn't be searching at all times. Given, Steel City could probably spare Bumblebee for a while, as well as the places the others visiting were from, but not forever…

Would they just give up on the missing Titans? No, that wasn't how they worked…The Teen Titans never left anyone behind…But could they even help them? What if Jericho was beyond aid…?


	8. Prisoner

Ch. 8 – Prisoner

Herald didn't know what had happened in the few hours since their arrival at…wherever they were, but he knew what had happened immediately after they arrived. As soon as the portal was closed safely behind them, Jericho had jumped out of his body unable to hold the possession any longer. It wasn't because he couldn't have controlled Herald on a normal basis, but wounded as he was it was amazing he had even gotten that far.

As soon as the injured Titan left him, and stumbled onto the ground, Herald hurried over to make sure he was alright…Only to feel a sharp sensation in the back of his head as Slade knocked him out.

The blue-clad Titan could tell now that it was certainly quite a while later in the day, as the small windows in the dim basement he was being held revealed the sun to be fading low onto the horizon…when they had attacked Slade's hideout, it was very nearly 1:00 in the afternoon.

Herald realized at once that this was not the place Jericho had opened the portal to; that had been a rather open meadow; he hadn't been aiming, he was just trying to get away. Now however, the boy found himself locked behind bars in what seemed to be the basement of an old jail, or something of a similar nature.

He could see the Gabriel's Horn on the other side of the room, along with his communicator, which had been disassembled. That was just great…

That was when Herald heard footsteps. Quiet, very nearly silent steps, but there they were. Down the stairs came Jericho, looking concerned; he wanted to make sure Herald was alright.

"Jericho, what is going on?" he asked, obviously confused as the blond boy approached. As soon as the words had left Herald's mouth though, Jericho flinched. He didn't mean for it to happen, but it was just kind of an impulse.

He signed to ask if the blue-clad Titan was feeling alright.

"I'm fine, but come on, tell me what is up with you? Why did you join-" before he even finished the sentence, the man in question followed Jericho's lead in heading downstairs. "Speak of the devil…"muttered Herald, not liking this development.

"Jericho, you should be in bed," said Slade, as he walked over to the blond boy. The response was simply that he had wanted to check on Herald, and make sure he wasn't hurt. "That shouldn't be any of your concern, he certainly hadn't shown any for you," said the masked man.

"That isn't true!" interjected Herald, but before he could proceed any further, Slade delivered a swift kick to the Titan behind the bars to silence him.

Jericho immediately kneeled down next to the bars, and put a hand on Herald's shoulder, as if to make sure the blow hadn't injured him. Herald pulled away from him. If Jericho had chosen to stay with Slade, he certainly wasn't a Titan any more.

A hurt look seeped into the mute's eyes, but after his last experience, he himself couldn't even tell why he really cared…The Titans were so willing to hurt him, and here he was still defending them.

"Jericho, I think you know what needs to be done," said Slade, slipping a knife into his son's hand. As soon as it entered his grip, the mute tossed it away; He was not going to do that.

This honestly surprised Herald a little bit. If Jericho had in fact joined Slade…Wouldn't he be willing to kill a Titan? "Jericho, you don't have to do this you know, you can-" Herald braced himself as the masked man looked like he was about to kick him again, but the mute stepped in the way making him stop at once.

Herald could only see a bit of the conversation they were signing; obviously Slade didn't want him to know what they were saying. What he did see was something along the lines of Jericho saying that he knew the Titans weren't friends to him anymore, but he was still to them, and Slade responding that he was underestimating them, that the Titans wouldn't be as kind to him next time they met.

None of this made sense to Herald. What were they talking about? However, he had to admit he was extremely grateful when Jericho signed that he wouldn't allow him to be killed. That, at least, was a relief.

"Fine. We can discuss this later…For now though, go back upstairs and get some rest," Slade insisted. Jericho nodded, and then gave a slight look to Herald, before he limped back up the stairs.

That was when Slade turned back to Herald. "You should consider yourself lucky," he said calmly, "if not for Jericho, you would certainly be dead at this moment…however, to say that your future luck will hold out would be to assume too much." With that, Slade left.

From that point on, Herald didn't see Jericho again. Slade was obviously keeping them apart intentionally; he didn't want Jericho to be convinced to go back to the Titans.

The Blue-clad Titan couldn't be sure how much time had passed since he had arrived…Wherever this was. He knew it had been at least two days.

While he slept, food usually showed up outside the cell; he could only assume it was Jericho. But why? The Titan couldn't understand…was Slade holding something over the mute? Or had Jericho simply begun to have second thoughts about his betrayal?

None of this made any sense. Why would Jericho think the Titans weren't his friends anymore? Why did he seem so afraid? How had he been so severely wounded? And why did Slade seem to care so much? The masked man had never treated his other apprentices like this, so why be kind now?

Of course, at this point, Herald was just still happy to be alive.


	9. Found

**Alright! I have a long chapter now! Sorta...Oh well. . Right, so, chapter five originally covered some of the stuff in this chapter, but well...Now its here instead. If you never read the original version of the chapter, then ignore this part of this...topic...thing. By the way, the other Titans are still there as in Hot Spot, Pantha, Jinx, Thunder and Lightning, and Bumblebee. Just so ya know. Also, I'm probably going to start updating a little slower, 'cause I really only had up to this chapter planned out, so...yeah. Sorry! **

* * *

**Ch. 9 – Found**

The atmosphere in the Titans Tower of Jump City was tense. For six long days, there had been no sign of Herald, Jericho, or Slade. It was hard to tell exactly what everyone was feeling, aside from anxious.

Even the normally cheery Starfire was downright depressed. Raven was brooding, trying to find some sign of them like last time, but this was different; she couldn't get any sign of them. Nothing at all.

Cyborg tried scanning for Herald's communicator, or residual traces of the signature from the Gabriel's Horn. He thought for a while, he had almost found something, but it was just Kid Flash running around Gotham.

Beast Boy continually tried to keep everyone in somewhat good spirits, but even he was slowly beginning to lose heart. He had stopped telling jokes, and even stopped trying to convert the other Titans to Tofu.

Robin was more than likely the worst off of all. The first day, he stayed with the group, the second, a little less…By the fourth day, he hadn't come out of his room at all; no one had seen him since.

At least, until the sixth day. That was the day Robin got another message from his mentor. As soon as it was received, Robin rushed out of his room into the main room, to tell the other Titans what he had just found out.

"Everyone! We've got a lead!" he said, as he entered the coordinates into the main computer. It was another building in Gotham, this time it seemed to be an abandoned police station. Apparently it had been the original headquarters of the Gotham City Police Department, until it had been deemed unsafe, and they got a new building.

"Not exactly as grand as he usually goes for, is it?" said Raven, wondering if perhaps this wasn't the right place.

"They were in a hurry…I doubt Slade would have anything planned for an occasion like this," Replied Robin calmly.

Within moments, they were in the garage, and then leaving Jump City behind in the T-ship, heading back into Gotham airspace.

Slade heard the T-ship landing outside. He hurried into Jericho's room, waking him carefully. "They're back," He whispered, leading Jericho into what had once been the Commissioner's office. There was a trap door, leading into the Gotham underground from there.

The masked man hurried the boy down the stairs. However, after a moment, the little mute stopped to look back into the building uncertainly. "Jericho, you need to hurry. They won't stop this time if they catch you. I'll follow you in a moment," said Slade, urging the mute forward and away from the Titans. Fear flashed in his green eyes, and the blonde stumbled down the path.

As soon as he was out of sight, Slade closed the door behind him, and headed back downstairs to finish Herald. Unfortunately for him, but very fortunately for the Titan, that was precisely the moment when the others entered the old police station.

The masked man was smart enough to know when he was outmatched, and rather than fight the Titans, he turned after his son back down the underground path.

Robin led the way into the abandoned building, eyes watchful for any sign of movement. Had they gotten into the building only seconds earlier, they would still have managed a glimpse of Slade, but as it was he eluded them.

"I can sense Herald..."Said Raven, honestly a little surprised, which threw her a bit. It might have been that, which kept her from sensing Slade and Jericho.

The group hurried into the basement, finding Herald locked in the sad little cell where he had spent the last six days.

He didn't even look up when he first heard them approach; he only assumed it was either Slade or Jericho, until he realized there were too many sets of feet on the stairs. Herald turned his head slightly, eyes widening when he saw the others. He was actually speechless.

"Herald, are you alright?" asked Robin, as he opened the cell door using a Birdarang.

"I'm fine…"Herald replied, though he was a little unsteady on his feet. He was a little weak from having spent so long in such a tiny space. Even with what food he had been getting (he presumed from Jericho), he was still a little bit under the weather.

Cyborg helped to steady him, and BB returned his Gabriel's Horn. Herald couldn't help but feel a little bit better as soon as he had it back. "Where's Slade?" He asked, assuming they had at least seen the masked man.

"He wasn't upstairs…He must have known we were coming. But, that can wait until later. Let's get you back to the tower," said Robin, just glad to have at least gotten Herald back in more or less the same shape he left them in.

After a full check out, and scans for any and all of Slade's usual tricks right down to microscopic probes, Herald was confirmed healthy, if still a little weak. He would have to stay in bed for a day or two until he was feeling more stable. However, that didn't mean that the Titans were going to be able to wait to find out what had happened. Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy decided to find out.

"Herald, can you tell us what was going on? Why is Jericho working with Slade?"asked Cyborg, really having come to the conclusion that since neither of them was in the old police station, and Herald was left behind, probably to starve, that the mute had actually turned against them.

"It's not like that…at least…I don't think it is," replied Herald, not quite sure how to explain what he had seen. Jericho seemed so confused the whole time, as if he was trying to force himself to make some kind of a decision when he would really have rather just left it in limbo.

"What'd you mean?" asked BB confusedly. Was there something to this that they weren't seeing?

"…It's like he was afraid of me at first, but then every time I'd fall asleep I'd wake up and someone had left food for me. I can't imagine that having been Slade," He started, remembering that detail; without it, he wouldn't be in the same shape he was.

Herald thought back to his first day as Slade's prisoner…Jericho had stood at his defense, even though he seemed to think that the Titans had abandoned him…Why would he possibly think that?

"…Slade was ready to kill me, but Jericho stopped him…Slade seemed like he was trying to convince him we were the ones who given up on him," To some extent, this was the truth…over the last few days, it was a little hard for most of the Titans to keep thinking of Jericho as an ally, after he had used his power against Herald, and then saved Slade.

This triggered something in Beast Boy's memory; he suddenly remembered what Jericho had said just after he had taken control of Herald's body. "…Why would he think we hurt him…?" the green Titan asked, really just kind of thinking out loud.

"What?" Robin was obviously confused, not having been there when Jericho had possessed Herald.

After BB explained, this almost seemed to leave them more confused. At this point, Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg decided to let Herald rest while they went and tried to figure out just what was going on.

They sat down on the sofa with the rest of the Titans, and relayed what they had found out to the group.

"Wait a minute, that makes sense," said Raven, eyes widening in understanding.

"Raven, none of that makes sense," argued Beast Boy, not understanding in the least.

"Think about it. When I was inside Jericho's mind, I saw us. I didn't understand it, so I thought he was hallucinating…In fact, I was right, but I couldn't see the whole picture. This is Slade…I should have figured it out…"she said, trying to work her thoughts out verbally, since they were balling themselves into a great knot in her mind.

"Hallucinating…? You don't think…?" the idea began to dawn on Cyborg as well.

"This is too cruel, even for one so evil as Slade!" Star had clearly just started to understand.

"…Of course, why didn't we see it before?!" now, Robin was actually sounding angry. How could they have missed it? It was so obvious!

"Hello, lack of understanding here!" said Beast boy, feeling like he was the only one who didn't quite get what was going on.

"I'm not sure I get it either…" said Hot Spot, a little confusedly.

"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Jinx, giving them all a bit of a weird look.

Of course the Titans outside the five wouldn't have understood what was going on…They hadn't been there the last time…and…well, Beast Boy just because it was him.

"Slade used a hallucinogenic drug on me once. It made me see, hear and feel Slade, even though he wasn't really there. It was so convincing my body injured itself because it was so sure he was winning," explained Robin, recalling the event rather vividly.

"Oh yeah!" said Beast Boy, as he finally came to the same conclusion the other four had reached minutes ago.

"Slade must have dosed Jericho, tricking him into thinking we were the ones causing all those injuries he had…Or rather…To him, we really were. He must have slipped Jericho the antidote and made it seem like he was the one who saved him from us," Raven said, voice just above a whisper.

That explained everything; why Jericho had been so afraid of them, how he had been hurt, and most importantly why the mute boy had decided not to run from Slade…of course, they still didn't know the _whole_ truth.

"Now the problem is going to be getting Jericho back, and getting him to trust us again…" Robin said, wondering if even the Teen Titans would be able to do it.


	10. Allies

Ch. 10 – Allies

Slade quickly caught up to Jericho, not really after all that much effort. He found the blonde sitting slumped up against a wall, covering his side with his hands. Bright green hues met his mask as Slade approached, and crouched down next to the mute to see what the matter was.

Jericho carefully moved his hands, shutting his eyes at the sight of what they had been covering; some of the wounds he had received, a trio of tiger claw slashes, had ripped itself back open in his escape. They were now bleeding rather heavily, and obviously causing him a deal of pain.

"Come on, I have another place we can go," said Slade, as he picked the boy up and seemingly trying to avoid causing any discomfort for him. With that, Slade hurried down the tunnel, away from the police station, making his way farther into the depths of Gotham City right under its roots.

When finally they were in open air again, it was already dark out. Slade carried Jericho through the city, coming to an old nightclub, called "The Gotham Masque", a slightly obvious title for one of Slade's hideouts. However, they were not alone.

"What's this? Someone seems to have stumbled into our funhouse, boys!" came a strange cackle from a man with green hair and a white face, wearing a purple suit. Jericho looked at the man, wondering what exactly was going on.

However, he didn't really get to wonder for long, as two large men with painted faces like clowns came from either side of Slade, and charged at him. Immediately, Jericho jumped into the one, while Slade fought the other. In moments, the masked man had taken out the one clown, and allowed Jericho to jump out of the other before knocking him unconscious. As he was unable to stand, the blonde sat on the floor, bleeding slightly, looking rather uncomfortable until Slade picked him back up.

The purple-clad man blinked, not having expected this. "Now now, let's um…Let's talk about this! You don't seem like the kind of man in league with the flying rat, maybe we can come to an accord," he suggested to Slade, a little surprised.

Slade was silent. This didn't bode well for the man with the green hair.

"Wait, wait! I can help you out, you seem new in town, right? Well then, perhaps I could show you the ropes! I know every hole in the wall in Gotham, and all the ways to avoid the bat!" He threw in, trying to win this argument that seemed to be with himself.

This caught Slade's attention. The masked man had in fact been wondering how he could avoid Gotham's protective shadow. "Perhaps you could be of use after all," said Slade, almost as a thought given voice.

The strange man seemed a little relieved. "The names Joker! Pleased to meet you!"He said, as he pranced down from the stage and held his hand out to the two.

Slade's one visible eye narrowed, not taking the hand. "You will have to try harder than that joy buzzer, if you plan on killing me. I wouldn't recommend a second attempt," The masked man walked past him without another look, heading over to a broken down old couch and setting Jericho down on it.

The Joker paled slightly, then laughed it off a bit awkwardly. "Your better at this game than you look, whoever you are," he said, seeming truly surprised by it.

"My name is Slade," came the reply, ignoring the somewhat compliment; he was re-bandaging Jericho's side.

The little blonde watched a moment, as the old red bandage was replaced with a fresh white one, until Slade spoke. "…I was too late getting back there," He said, causing Jericho to look at him with wonder, "…Herald was already dead by Robin's hand."

Something broke. The world, perhaps. It was one thing for the Titans to hate him, the child of their most dangerous enemy…but Herald? What had he done?

"They though he had betrayed them and helped you get away," Slade explained, not making eye contact with the boy who seemed to have gone into shock with the news.

Jericho was staring blankly, not looking at anything, not registering what it was he simply saw. They wouldn't really do that…He understood that they would hurt him, he knew that for certain, but…Herald? He hadn't helped Jericho, and the Titans wouldn't have just killed him without being able to confirm or deny their suspicions…would they?

Slade tied off the bandages, and now his one visible eye met Jericho's green hues. "I'm sorry, I know you still thought of him as a friend," he said, in the voice of a concerned parent.

For a moment, there was silence, and then the masked man spoke up again, "…Jericho, do you remember my offer?" He waited for the boy to nod, and then said, "If we work together, we can keep them from ever doing something like this again. We can keep them from hurting any more of your friends."

Again, silence. Then, slowly, Jericho nodded a second time; he wanted to keep the Titans from hurting anyone else.

"Jericho, you are strong, but I will help you perfect your talents…Your skills are unique, certainly…but we will make them faultless," Slade told him this as he lay upon the couch, still too weak to stand, and this encouraged the boy to heal more quickly.

The first moment that Jericho was able to stand on his own, Slade began to train him; The boy was already agile, and able to fight, but that wasn't enough. He needed to be stronger, faster, and more cunning. He needed to be more like Slade himself.

Even with the injuries still present and holding Jericho back, Slade pushed him forward. Jericho wore heavy weights around his wrists and ankles at all times, and heavier ones when sparring.

When the mute thought he couldn't continue, the masked man pushed him anyway, forcing him to continue his training until the boy thought he would simply snap, or his injuries really did prevent him from continuing. If that happened, Slade would stop him and the wounds would be tended, but then they would go on.

Soon, Jericho began to change; his body had more muscle to it, toned and almost hidden, but certainly his strength was increasing quickly even though the boy took no notice of it personally. Slade noticed; his son was becoming the apprentice he always wanted.

The one thing that troubled the masked man was that he couldn't seem to drive the idea he wanted into Jericho's mind firmly enough. "Jericho, don't think about going easy on them. The Titans will kill you, slowly, if they catch you again. Last time you were lucky I came back when I did," he repeated over and over, trying to make it sink in.

"If you are caught, you must escape. By any means escape, or you will die," Slade's words were ever present in the blonde's mind. He wouldn't allow himself to be killed. He wouldn't allow himself to be caught. He wouldn't allow the Titans to kill someone innocent again.

Jericho worked hard, harder than he ever had before, to work until he could complete a day of Slade's training without wanting to collapse. He worked until he could wear weights up to twenty pounds on each limb and barely notice. He worked until he could hold his own and stalemate against Slade himself when sparring.

After a month of training, Jericho discarded his well-loved outfit, and traded it instead for the black and orange uniform. He slipped on the metal plates, and heavy boots. Finally, he dawned the metallic S on the orange section of the outfit. Jericho had at last decided to join his father's mission to relieve the world of the Teen Titans.


	11. Preparations

**Okay! An actually LONG chapter! ...Sorta. Its actually 2,183 words! Right. Well, here they get to go visit some of the world's favorite Gotham sites...namely, Arkham Asylum. I put some Batman characters in here, and well...Here's hoping I wrote properly for them. Oh well. Sorry the wait was...Longish. I think I'm going to slow the pace down a little, maybe like...One a week or so. Sorry! And seriously, thank you to everyone who leaves me a review! Your amazing!**

** Well, you've probably skipped this and started reading by now. So I'll shut up. **

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Ch. 11 – Preparations

The last month had been an exceptionally long one in the Titans Tower. Jinx, Pantha and the others had all gone back to their respective cities in the last week, leaving the original five and Herald in Jump City.

Herald had been kept in bed until just recently, having taken longer to recover than expected. Even still, the others would only let him do easy things around the tower; he had been through a lot, and they were not going to let him push himself.

Robin had been doing a lot of thinking in the last four weeks, and had at last come to a decision. He called the others over, and waited for them to sit down on the couch.

"I've been considering the situation, and I can't help but think we only have one option for what to do here. We need to get Jericho away from Slade…Slade is the one convincing him we're against him, so if we can get them apart, Jericho will realize he's been lied to," it seemed almost as though Robin had nothing new to say; they all knew that already. They all knew that if Jericho stayed with the masked man, he might never come back…So what was this about?

"With that in mind, I think we're going to have to be ready to take Jericho by force if necessary," said the boy leader. This didn't greet the others with the best reception.

"Wouldn't that just confirm what he thinks? That we're the bad guys kidnapping people?" Said Cyborg, casting a little bit a strange look at the teen before them.

"I can't see us as having much other choice. Jericho obviously isn't going to be willing to come with us, so what else is there we can do?" Robin had thought about this for hours. He had thought of every possibility, towards the end each getting to be less likely than the last.

"Robin has a point…There isn't much else we would be able to do if he's not willing to come with us on his own…Getting him away from Slade needs to be our focus," said Raven, as calm as ever. She didn't seem to like the idea much, but was clearly open to it if needed.

"Now that that's out of the way, we need to try and figure out where they are," Robin immediately looked to Raven, knowing she was their best hope of finding them, as she had last time.

"I've been doing what I can to find them, and the most I can find is that they aren't in Jump City yet. If I had to make a guess, I would say that Slade hasn't left Gotham yet," she replied calmly.

"You're probably right. I think our best bet is to assume they are still there, and see if any of the local criminals have caught sight of anything unusual," the boy wonder seemed a little irritated by this thought, mostly because he knew these villains.

"I've been working on something for the next time we meet up with Jericho," Cyborg stood up suddenly, going over to the computer and picking up a metal case. He opened it up, revealing several pairs of what looked like computerized swim goggles.

B.B. looked at them confusedly. "Uh, going swimming is going to help how…?" said the green Titan a little awkwardly.

"These aren't for swimming," said the half metallic Titan, as he took one pair out of the case, "With these, Jericho won't be able to use his power on us. Only downside is that they're pretty hard to see in, so if you can't wear them make sure not to make eye contact."

"Good work, Cyborg. I was having trouble coming up with something to do about that," Robin was actually a little surprised. He was glad to have at least one more problem out of the way.

"Should we not set up the look outs around the Gotham?" Star suggested, that seeming like something that to do.

"Great idea Starfire. I'll get Thunder and Lightning on it," said the leader in agreement. "For now, I think we should head back to Gotham and interview the criminals," he added, already starting for the door.

"Uh, Robin, it's not like we can just go find a gathering of criminals who are perfectly happy to answer our questions!" said BB, wondering how exactly the boy wonder planned to do that.

"Actually, it's exactly like that," Robin replied, and within minutes they were headed for Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

As soon as the T-ship landed, guards from Arkham rushed out to see what was going on. Of course, after they realized it was the Teen Titans, they led them inside the Asylum where the most dangerous of the City's clearly disturbed were housed.

The first stop on the list was a woman with long red hair, and a potted plant in her cell. She wore drab grey clothing, uniform for the inmates.

"Whoa, who's the babe?" asked Beast Boy, wide-eyedly.

"Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy,"said the guard, about to stand and wait until they were ready to move to another criminal.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine on our own," said Robin; Ivy hid her plant as soon as she recognized the voice.

As the guard walked away, the Titans came more clearly into her view, and a smirk crossed the red-head's face. "If it isn't the boy wonder. What brings you back to Gotham?" She said, her voice smooth and flowing, but with an obvious bite to it. Apparently, she had been expecting Robin to have…different companions.

Robin scowled a little. This was exactly the Ivy he remembered from what seemed now like a past life. "We were wondering if you'd heard anything about someone new in town," he said, sounding a little grudging.

"A new guy, huh? Well, if there wasn't one, I can only assume you wouldn't be here…But If I do know something, what's in it for me?" Said Ivy, tilting her head so her long red tresses fell slightly to the side, making BB's eyes go wide and having him drool slightly.

"Ivy, I don't have time for this. Either you've got something to tell us, or I talk the guards into revoking your gardening privileges," The dark-haired Titan's voice was sharp, even a little irritated. It surprised the others.

"Please, we are looking for our friend!" Star interjected, hoping this plea would convince Pamela to give them some information.

"Star, that's enough," Robin ended up sounding a little harsher than he meant to, but then turned back to Ivy, who seemed a bit put off by his threat.

"I don't know anything other than that there is someone in Gotham that shouldn't be, and he's training his apprentice. That's it, so leave me alone!" she said haughtily, as she turned her back to them, and her attention back to her plant.

Robin looked very much like he wanted to continue to argue with Ivy, but Raven put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Come on, let's see if anyone else knows anything."

With that they proceeded down the hallway, plexi-glass-plate doors to the cells allowing the Titans a clear view of the best of Gotham's worst.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a cell where a man in the same grey outfit as the rest, leaning against the left wall of his cell, dark hair slicked back but a few oddly white strands flyaway from the other side.

"This is Harvey Dent, also known as Two-Face," said Robin, glaring a little bit at the man inside the cell.

"Why is…" before Beast Boy could finish his sentence, the man began to speak.

His voice was rough, scratchy and harsh, as he turned, revealing the other, horribly scarred side of his face, and said "What are you doing here, Bird-boy?"

"We're looking for information, on someone new to Gotham," Robin was trying to keep his calm, that much was clear, but the Titans could tell he was even more irritated than he was letting on.

"Why not just ask The Bat?" Two-Face replied, glaring at the five Titans before him.

Robin returned the glare. "This isn't his problem. Now do you have anything, or not?!" the leader was visibly gritting his teeth, even a little as he spoke. Two-Face knew he'd hit a nerve.

"If you really want answers, I suggest you go talk to the Scarecrow," he said suddenly, being unusually helpful for the multiple-personality-endowed criminal.

The Titans turned and left at that, heading farther down the hallway.

"Poison Ivy? Two-Face? The Scarecrow? And here I thought Jump City had issues…" said Cyborg, listing them off on his fingers as they walked.

"You don't know the half of it…"Robin muttered as they stopped again, in front of a cell with a thin man in glasses inside it, "And this is the Scarecrow…Doctor Jonathan Crane."

The thin, sandy haired man looked up inquisitively, a bit of a smirk on his face. "Yes, bird-boy?" he said, as he closed his book and turned around to face them.

"We're looking for information on a new criminal in town, and Two-Face says you have it," said Robin, as his eyes met those of the man behind the glass.

Crane laughed a little to himself. "I very well might. Of course, that depends on what would be in it for me if I did have this hypothetical information," he said, smirk growing as though he were a true scarecrow.

"…Depending on what it is, we might be willing to make a deal," It really did seem like the not-so-good doctor was fraying Robin's last nerve.

"…I'll tell you everything I know about Slade if you get me more psychology books…Preferably, ones I haven't read; These are getting a bit tattered," replied Crane, gesturing to the book in his hands, and the four others in equally bad shape in the corner of his cell.

At the mention of Slade's name, Robin knew the information was authentic; they hadn't said his name since coming into the Asylum. "Fine, it's a deal. I'll work it out so that you get more books…Now tell us what you know," said the Boy Wonder, now hoping he had something that would lead to finding Slade.

"A deal it is then! Robin, at least I know you have had some experience with Slade's hallucinogenic dust…"Said Doctor Crane, who found Robin's reactionary scowl extremely amusing, "That, would be a trick of mine. As a matter of fact, just a few months back he ordered a very large supply of the dust from me…I only just managed to ship it out before ending back up in here."

"That explains a lot…"said Raven, who honestly had thought from the beginning that the dust didn't seem particularly like something Slade could have made on his own.

"Is there a way to convince someone that they've been influenced by it in the past?" asked Cyborg, hoping there would be some kind of a way for them to prove to Jericho that it hadn't been the real Titans who hurt him.

"Well…I've never had the pleasure of being able to test that. Theoretically however, re-exposure to the dust with the same experience involved, and therein having it negated would possibly work…But this is all just theory, remember," said Dr. Crane, seeming very much to be interested in the matter; for once he was getting a chance to do more than just read.

"Do you have any more of it that we could use?" asked Raven, hoping for the best.

"Sadly, I sent the last of it off to Slade. May I ask why though? Surely Robin, you couldn't _still _be having the delusions, could you?" Scarecrow really seemed interested by this prospect.

Robin completely ignored his question.

"It is for our friend," explained Star, when she realized that Robin clearly had no intention of answering.

"Well…If that's the case, I suppose you could just try and convince him, but…Your odds would be better with the dust, I think. I take pride in my work, and that was some of my best," The Scarecrow boasted, really finding the situation honestly exceptionally amusing.

"Where did you ship the dust to?" asked Robin, now sounding both annoyed, and determined to get his answers and go as quickly as possible.

"Somewhere in Jump City, so if your looking for him here, then that wouldn't be of any use to you…But, I have heard things…Harley Quinn was complaining about the Joker breaking out without her…She doesn't know where he is, so far as we know, but I would keep your eyes out for him," said Crane, smirking happily.

"Alright, you'll have your books by the morning," said Robin, nodding to the Titans.

As they started to walk out, Scarecrow called after them "Good luck convincing him…You'll need all the help you can get!" His arrogant laughter filled the hall, the thought of his great work crippling the Teen Titans inspiring every chuckle.


	12. Target

So right. About how I said I might be getting one of these up a week... I get distracted. Very easily. Don't worry, in all likely hood I won't just stop working on it all together (I say that because thats one of those things that scares me with stories I like to read) but...well sometimes it might take longer between them. . Anyway, this one is a little logner than most, but I don't think its as long as the last... Oh well. Hopefully, you'll like it.

Also, special thanks to Rena Redhead for the amazing review! Your amazing!

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Ch. 12 – Target

All the while the Teen Titans had been interviewing inmates, Slade had been quietly plotting. Finally, he approached Jericho with news of his plan.

"I've come up with something to eliminate the Titans," said the masked man. Apparently now that the mute was completely healed, this was the time to strike against them. He placed the layout of his plan on the table before the blond, and began to explain.

At once, Jericho raised silent objection. He did not want to steal, regardless of their good intentions…

"Wayne Enterprises will not miss one bit of technology. This microchip will help us rid the world of the Titans. This will be one act of thievery for the greater good," Slade's words were eloquent, and with each syllable he influenced the former Titan more and more.

Jericho shook his head again. Even if it was for the 'greater good', why should this company have to suffer the loss of something that it rightfully owned? Wouldn't stealing it make them no better than common criminals?

He signed his concerns to Slade, wanting to make it clear he didn't think this was a very good idea…The masked man's fist clenched slightly in frustration.

"Jericho, you must listen to reason," the annoyance in his voice was suppressed as best it could be under the circumstances. At last, under the weight of the boy's stubbornness, Slade came to an agreement, "Fine. If it will make you feel better, I will return the microchip after we have dealt with the Titans."

This seemed to relieve Jericho; if it was going to be returned, surely for the greater good, there was no harm in borrowing it…

That very night, Slade and his new apprentice took to the streets of Gotham City, followed behind by his drones. They crept along the streets silent as the night itself, and as unassuming as shadows.

The only reason that even one creature, a stray cat in an alley they passed through, knew of their presence was the caring sensation of Jericho's hand brushing over it just for an instant; It was gone before the feline even realized what had happened.

In what seemed only an instant, the two reached the shipping docks of the Wayne Enterprises building. They used the shadows to their advantage, cloaking them the view of the guards.

"You know what to do…"Slade whispered, his only response being a nod from the boy next to him, and the blond darting off, unseen by the patrol, closer to the back entrance.

What the apprentice and master didn't know was that a Titan had in fact spotted them. Thunder had spotted the mute as he approached the security officer behind the building. He was about to call out to the other, until he saw Jericho take possession of the guard, and use him to open the building to the awaiting masked man and his robotic minions.

Before he could be noticed, Thunder disappeared off into the city skyline to contact the other Titans. Fortunately, the heroes had decided to stay in the city for the night, and their hotel wasn't far from the crime scene.

In under ten minutes, the Jump City Titans were outside the building, and Thunder was explaining to them what he had seen.

"That is when I saw the silent one enter in to the building from the darkness. He was followed by the masked one," said Thunder, gesturing to where they had come from, back to the entrance.

"We've got to hurry then. They've already got a lead on us," Robin replied, as he hurriedly lead the other four into the building, and Thunder took back to the air to watch for any sign of an escape attempt. Robin seemed more urgent than usual.

As they ran through the hallways and up staircases, it was abundantly clear which path Jericho and Slade had taken; the limp, dazed forms of the guards the mute had possessed were strewn throughout the way. They all seemed unhurt at least, which was one good sign that perhaps, Slade hadn't corrupted their friend yet.

Of course, Robin knew it wouldn't be easy-going the entire way. Sooner than he had hoped, the five of them ran directly into a trio of the masked-man's drones. Robin dispatched the first one with a birdarang, and Starfire the other two with her Starbolts, but the sounds of the mechanical henchmen being destroyed soon drew others.

The boy leader soon lost count of how many of Slade's henchmen they had eliminated just trying to get through the one hallway; they were beginning to seem almost endless…but they could see a lit room just beyond the hallway…

Meanwhile, Jericho and Slade had long since reached their destination. Jericho stood next to the containment field with a tiny, somewhat purplish microchip floating in it. So it seemed, the mute still had mixed feelings about stealing it.

"Jericho, I can't do this without you. You need to get that, or else more innocent people will be hurt by the Teen Titans…"Slade spoke slowly, and coolly, obviously trying to make it apparent that this was really the only option…Until he heard the sound of his minions being destroyed.

"You must act now, the Titans are here to stop us. If we don't take it now, all this will have been for nothing, and we will be caught," The masked man's voice suddenly had an edge of urgency, and he emphasized the last word...

Caught. Of all the things Slade had told him, Jericho remembered that one the best…He was not going to be caught again.

In an instant, he jumped as though about to possess a person on the opposite side of the field, through the security, resolidifying his right hand inside it only long enough to grab the chip and then allow it to pass through unnoticed as well.

At that same moment, the Titans finally broke through the hallway of drones, only to have shock meet their eyes…There was their friend, there was Jericho…Wearing a Slade uniform, holding the microchip that Slade had obviously set out to steal.

For a moment, the mute's knees shook just slightly at the sight of those who had hurt him. Quickly however, he mastered his fear…He was different now. He wouldn't just let them hurt him, not even with their former friendship in mind…Not after what they had done to Herald.

"Back to inflict more pain, Titans? I think you'll find my apprentice isn't as easy a target as he was during your last encounter," said Slade, still playing to the illusion that clouded his son's mind.

"Cut the act Slade!" shouted Robin angrily, "This sick game of yours isn't going to work! We know about the dust."

"Dust? Now you might have to explain that one to me, Robin…" The masked man replied casually.

The boy wonder was about to respond, when Starfire cut him off, "Jericho please, we are your friends! Slade has tricked you!"

The blond was a little taken aback at first, but shook his head quickly. He wouldn't believe these lies...Slade had told him they would do this, that they would try to turn them against each other…

"Your deception won't work here, girl. Jericho knows where his allegiances lie," with one look after that from Slade, Jericho pocketed the chip and immediately attacked. His first target was Beast Boy, who only just held the goggles up to his eyes in time.

Jericho was stunned, really, when for the first time his power had failed him. Of course, that wore off quickly. Fortunately, it was just enough of a pause for the rest of the Titans to dawn the eyewear as well.

The fact that he couldn't use his power now seemed to unnerve Jericho a bit, but thanks to his training with Slade it wasn't necessarily a problem; it just evened the playing field a little.

While the other four had their hands full just trying to keep up with Jericho, and for that matter see where he was with the goggles on, Robin had taken to grappling with the masked man.

"What's the matter Robin? You don't seem to be giving this your all…Or perhaps training with an accomplished apprentice has simply raised my expectations," said Slade, his voice alerting the boy wonder to the smirk that was surely hidden behind the black and orange mask.

"He isn't something to just toy with Slade!" spat the dark-haired boy in reply. The whole idea of how his opponent had turned the mute against them sickened him.

However, while Robin was gritting his teeth, Slade took the opportunity to gain the upper hand; he released himself from their death-grip only for an instant, grabbing onto Robin's wrists instead, then sent the boy sailing through the air into the group of his friends.

"Jericho. Let's go, we have what we came for," said the masked figure, seemingly all to content to just disappear for the moment.

The mute however, wanted to stay. Why not finish off the Titans now, punish them now for what they had done? His silent stubbornness made this opinion clear to his father.

"There is a time for everything, and this is not the time for that," said Slade, his tone alone enough to convince the boy that he was right.

Reluctantly, Jericho nodded, and in what seemed to be only an instant before the Titans could recover themselves, they were gone.


	13. Changes

**Okay. So this chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but then I decided to just break it down into two chapters. Sorry! But hey, think of it this way: Now I have the next one almost sort of kinda done!...and yet it still might not show up until February, knowing me... Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and sorry that its taking me so darn long between updates. I promise to work harder!**

**P.s. If anyone got two messages saying I updated, I had a little problem with one of the chapters and had to delete it and then put it back... Sorry.**

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**Ch. 13 – Changes**

The following day, the Titans went back to the Wayne Enterprises building to gather information on what exactly the microchip did…and to apologize for having let it be stolen.

A secretary, who seemed oddly happy to see Robin, led the five heroes through a set of large double doors on the top floor, into the president's office where they were greeted by a tall handsome man with dark hair and broad shoulders, dressed in a suit.

He smiled a little bit as they entered the room, and said "Ah, you must be the Teen Titans. I'm Bruce Wayne, President and owner of Wayne Enterprises."

Robin nodded in acknowledgement, fidgeting slightly and avoiding eye contact with the president. "Yes, Mr. Wayne…This is Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire," said the boy wonder, gesturing to each of the teens as he named them.

"Its nice to meet all of you. I understand that last night's break in was from…some out of town criminals…"Said Mr. Wayne, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully, as though he were trying to soften the effect they would have on the heroes before him.

"…One criminal," corrected Robin, not going into the details of his sentence.

"…My apologies," Replied the president, nodding as sat, and then gestured to a setting of chairs before his desk. "I would like to ask if you could retrieve the microchip that was stolen for me," said the CEO, as he placed his elbows on the desk in front of him, crossing his fingers, and leaning his chin up against them.

"Not a problem," said the boy wonder, seeming all too agitated with the current feel of the room.

As a final sort of note, Bruce Wayne stood up again and said"…I have a connection with the Police Commissioner, and he's informed me that the Gotham City Police will be on the lookout for the pair that broke in. Thank you for your efforts."

With that the Titans departed. Once outside, Starfire couldn't help but ask, "Robin…You seemed…discomforted. Something was the matter? Also…You did not introduce yourself to the Mr. Wayne…Why?"

"…There wasn't any reason to," replied the young leader, and that was the end of the conversation.

At the Gotham Masque, Jericho had been off by himself ever since their return from stealing the chip the night before. He couldn't shake the slightly sullied feeling that it left him with.

Slade had taken the chip at once, said that he was proud of the boy, and then gone to work on whatever it was that would help them be rid of the Titans.

The eternally silent ex-Titan sat on the same couch that his father had laid him on when they first came to the abandoned club, looking somewhere between the silver S he had removed from his clothing to fidget with, and the floor. He felt a strange, almost cold sensation coming from the pit of his stomach, but he just couldn't place it…

"What's the matter, blondie-boy?" came the irritating half-laughing voice of the purple-clad clown that plopped down next to the boy, and slapped him on the back.

Jericho looked up at him, and blinked, wondering if the Joker really expected an answer.

His almost oily voice slid through the air as he put his arm around the black and orange clad boy's shoulders, "Why, I couldn't help but notice your 'special gift' during your training with old sulkie there…That could be a very useful talent…Me personally, I don't think he appreciates what you do…So what do you say to joining up with your old uncle Joker for a bit of fun?"

Before the Joker even had time to wait for a response, Slade's voice came from the shadows to their left, "He doesn't say anything, you idiot…Jericho is mute."

If it were possible, the clown would have paled slightly as he scowled. He couldn't quite figure out how he had missed that. He glanced back to the blond and muttered, "Well why didn't you say something before now?"

Jericho simply shook his head hopelessly at the strangeness of the man beside him.

"Oh come on grim and scary, you can't blame me for trying to win the boy over. He's got one heck of a gift," said the Joker his usual far too strange to the point of sinister smirk.

Slade was silent for just a moment, as he walked over to stand in front of the two and said "You know, Joker…I've been giving some thought to our situation…It seems to me, that as we have gone bat-free for some time now, your services are no longer needed."

The purple and green clown was a bit dumbstruck, before he said "What? You think you can double cross me?" He let out his usual cackle as he called for his two oversized thugs. When they didn't show up immediately with hyenas in toe, he raised an eyebrow of suspicion.

"Oh they won't be bothering us," said Slade with a hidden grin. In fact, he had anticipated this; the pair of muscle-bound minions were securely tied up out behind the club.

"This must be some kind of a gag! No one pulls one over on the Joker!" spouted the Gotham-hailing villain. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know just who he was facing.

A little laugh echoed from behind Slade's mask. "If it makes you feel any better, you may consider this…Downsizing," he cast a glance towards the blond, nodding for some unspoken code.

Jericho took one look at his father, and pulled one of the signature masks out of his pocket, slipping it on just as Slade sent a pellet of sleeping gas at the ground. By the time the smoke cleared, and the apprentice removed his mask, the clown was unconscious.

Later that day, the Gotham City Police received the very neat package of the Joker and his two henchmen directly on their doorstep. Promptly, the two bulky drones were sent back to prison, and the Joker to Arkham Asylum, considering that no one fit the words "Criminally Insane" better.

This did not leave him in the best mood, of course. From his first moment back in Arkham, he ranted to dearest Harley Quinn of the injustices. Loudly.

"Of all the injustices! Kicking me out of a hideout I found before he got there! Hasn't that masked moron ever heard of 'finders-keepers'?! That two-faced rat double crossed me!" he shouted, then glancing to one of his neighbors he added, "Oops, sorry ugly…" as Two Face glared at him.

At once, Commissioner Gordon was alerted to the ramblings of the newly returned inmate. When he heard the details about Slade, he knew well enough to call the Titans before sending in the Gotham P.D.

"Robin, we've got a lead," said the Commissioner over the Titan's circuit, "It seems the Joker was holed up with that masked man you've been looking for in a night club in the city. They had a falling out, and now Slade seems to have kicked him out…Saves work for us, but I can't really decide if this is the lesser of two evils or not."

"Did he say which club?" asked Robin, though he knew things certainly couldn't be that easy.

"No, he didn't…By now we probably could have found them, but…He said Slade had a kid with him. I'm assuming that's the one of yours that went missing, so I called you first," Gordon replied calmly. Just as the other Titans were about to ask how the Commissioner knew about that, he spoke again "He already told me about it."

Robin nodded, seeming to think that enough. "Thanks for the help, Commissioner Gordon," he said, and they hung up.

"He? Want to elaborate, Robin?" asked Raven calmly, but sounding slightly confused.

"…Just someone I know," obviously, the boy wonder was going to be stubborn and keep some things to himself. The other Titans let it drop at that.

Using the T-ship's computer, they managed to find a list of all the clubs in Gotham. Of course, the logical choice was to narrow it down to those that were abandoned, or being renovated; Slade and the Joker would definitely stick out too much in an open one. From the newly shortened list, one caught Robin's eye right away.

"The Gotham Masque? Wow, could he BE any more obvious? He's not THAT stupid, is he?" said the green Titan, thinking that it was kind of ridiculous.

"No, its perfect…He knew we'd see it and think it was too easy from the start…If Slade is anywhere in this city, that is the place," said Robin determinedly. Now they knew where to look.

"Oh…Right. Of course. I totally knew that all along," said beast boy, nodding as if someone was agreeing with him as he spoke.

With that, the Titans headed to the abandoned club, on the west side of Gotham City. From the outside, it certainly showed every reason to be abandoned. The five of them stood at a safe distance, out of sight of the numerous drones Slade had patrolling the area, dressed as common thugs.

"That confirms it…Slade is in there," said Robin, finally feeling that things might be going their way.

Quickly they worked out the plan, and set it into motion. Normally, the team would have gone in guns blazing, but this time was different. This time required finesse; Raven took the left side of the building, silently destroying any of the robotic minions as she enveloped them in her power.

Beast boy took the Right side, sneaking over and hiding behind a dumpster as a mouse, then changing into an anaconda and crushing the drones one by one as they came by until the entire exterior guard was down.

While Cyborg joined Raven and BB, Starfire carried Robin onto the roof of the club. The other three would enter from the back as the pair came in from above…The most important thing now wasn't to catch Slade, it was to rescue Jericho before they lost him entirely.


	14. The Masque

**Okay! So, finally, finally finally finally, I've gotten chapter 14 up. . I am so sorry that took so long. Wow...Um...Thank you to anyone who is actually bothering to keep reading this despite the MAJOR time gap. Um...here's hoping you like it? And seriously, I have -NO- idea how long it'll be between chapters...for some reason I get really motivated to work on it sometimes, and....not so much other times. Also, a thanks to PhantomGirl12. ^___^ Thank you! Okay, I'll shut up now. Enjoy~!**

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**Ch. 14 – The Masque**

Silently the five entered the run-down building, which seemed nearly empty inside. Robin and Starfire came in through a broken window in the skylight to what had apparently been the section of the building used for most of the public. Dust and cobwebs clung to the interior anywhere the heroes looked. Most of the room was coated in ancient carpet, and broken tables were strewn about the floor; the booths attached to the walls seemed mostly intact.

Near the back of the room was a stage that had obviously at one point been quite grand and lived up to all the glory of Gotham; now it was coated in a thick layer of dust that prominently displayed the trail of any who set foot on it. The dark, moth-eaten curtains that hung from above it were faded with a combination of grime and age.

Several of the pillars supporting the second floor had been broken in one way or another, and above them the floor sagged slightly. In many places on the second floor, the booths had been torn out, and the railing that went around the edges had mysteriously vanished. A pair of grand gold and crystal chandeliers hung above it all, coated in dozens upon dozens of spider webs a piece, casting dim light over the entirety of the main room.

Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg entered the building through what at one point had been the kitchen; in any direction the trio could see broken collapsing shelving, decrepit ovens, or taps that probably gave off rusty brown water. The grey tiles on the floor had most likely been white at one point, and were now simply stained with age.

Beast Boy shifted his shape into that of a mouse again, and scurried out of the kitchen door which only just hung on its hinges, thus perpetually keeping it open just a crack. He ran down a hallway to the left of the kitchen, past a broken down couch next and moldy velvet rope that had once been used to keep the VIP's away from the crowds. This, he thought, seemed the most likely place to find Slade and Jericho.

After a moment he changed into a fly, figuring that the smaller he was, the less likely the mute or the masked man were to notice he was green; surprise was their best weapon for the moment. He flew into two different rooms before he started to become skeptical as to whether or not they were even here.

He changed back to normal, scratching the back of his head slightly. "Where are they?!" he mumbled, sounding frustrated. As soon as the words had slipped out, however, the green boy wished he could have taken them back; the door snapped shut, and he turned around only to come eye-to-eye with Jericho.

Meanwhile, the eerie silence was starting to get to Starfire as well. "Robin, are we sure they are in this place?" she asked quietly, not wanting to alert anyone if she were to be proven wrong.

"They're here, Star…I'm sure of it," Robin replied confidently, in the same stealthy tone. Unfortunately for their cover, that was the moment when BB came running back around the corner, bumping into everything he possibly could with his protective goggles on, and making a noise that could wake the dead.

"So much for stealthy…"said Robin, a little annoyed. He managed to grab BB by the shoulders and make some sense out of him after a moment, though.

"You guys! I just ran straight into Jericho! I only just managed to get away thanks to these!" he said in a slightly frantic tone, as he put his hands on the sides of the goggles sounding immensely grateful to them.

Considering that they no longer really had any reason to be quiet thanks to the combination of Beast Boy's racket, and the fact that the blond had actually SEEN him, the three hurried back to the kitchens for Raven and Cyborg.

"Way to go, you green goof," Said Cy, apparently thinking that at least all that noise could have been avoided. BB just scratched the back of his head with a slightly awkward laugh as his response. Admittedly, it was a bit clumsy, even for him.

"Come on, he's this way," said BB, as he led them down the hallway he had just come from. They went quickly and carefully, goggles on, ready to fight at any moment. They passed one door, then another, and another, until they came to a pair of large closed doors.

"He's in here, or was when I ran out," Said Beast Boy, gesturing to the door.

"Right…On three," Robin said, taking the lead, "…One…Two…Three!" The Boy Wonder threw the doors, taking the lead as the five ran in to find…nothing. Behind the doors was just another darkened room. There were no windows, and apparently no other doors, but neither the master nor apprentice were in sight.

What little light had been entering the room from the open doors back into the hallway, suddenly disappeared, obscured by another shadow. Four of the Titans turned around to look, realizing the fifth had caused it; behind them stood a green Tyrannosaurus Rex, with glowing green eyes. The goggles hadn't been used to protect him from the mute; they had been used to hide the fact that Beast Boy was possessed by Jericho.

With no more than a prehistoric roar, the green dinosaur had managed to knock Starfire out of the air, and unbalance Cyborg

"Titans, move!" shouted Robin, as a large scaled foot dropped down into the doorway they had been standing in, the four only just getting out of the way by darting farther into the darkened room. An elephant chased after them, squeezing through the door frame, before the dinosaur was back.

Jericho's ability made opposing him difficult; how could they fight him without hurting Beast Boy?

"I do not wish to fight you!" said Starfire, who regardless had her Starbolts ready. Sure, if it could be avoided she didn't want to use them…but she wouldn't let him hurt any of her other friends either. However, that train of thought distracted her enough so that as BB shifted to the form of a giant squid, he could wrap one long tentacle around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

Simultaneously, this gave Raven the chance to try her hand in the fight. Just as she was chanting her mantra, though, Jericho noticed her. He threw Star into, and partially through a wall, and turned his attention to the blue-hooded girl behind him in the form of the large lizard once more.

Before she could finish all three words, Raven had been smacked across the room by the dinosaur's tail, knocking her goggles off. She recovered quickly however, and in a moment she was back on her feet, with "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos_" at her lips, using her power just to hold the possessed one still; after all, she didn't want to hurt either of them.

Jericho however was making great use of BB's powers, and transformed again into a mouse, slipping away as Raven tried to recover from the sudden size difference. A moment later, he took the shape of a giant serpent, wrapping around the blue-clad girl in a bone crushing embrace.

That was when Cyborg stepped in; the possessor was so busy trying to subdue Raven, he didn't even notice the other Titan until it was too late. Cyborg had gotten behind him, and with one quick word of apology in the back of his mind to Beast Boy for the undoubtedly coming headache, landed a powerful blow to the back of the snake's head.

As soon as it had happened, Jericho was quite literally thrown from Beast Boy's body and across the room. The green snake dropped to the ground, loosing itself from its grip around Raven in unconsciousness, before slowly changing back to BB. Jericho, however, wasn't ready to give up…Instead, he turned his power on the only one conscious he could make eye contact with; Raven.

Before the Titan could look away, he made the connection. Raven could feel it as Jericho ghosted into her, and she lost control over the motion of her limbs…She felt her lips start to move, her vocal cords start to resonate, and the words she spoke so often began to slip from her mouth. "_Azarath Metrio…!"_the words came to a sudden, complete halt. The blue-clad titan's now glowing green eyes widened in horror.

What was this? What was going on?! He shouldn't be seeing this…This wasn't his life, this wasn't reality….Jericho wasn't where he should have been! He wasn't in the musty old club anymore, he was…Somewhere much more bizarre…

The sky was black, with only splotches of the bloodiest looking red…all around the blond were floating chunks of rock acting as the only ground…They seemed to lead to a larger mass of rock…

Suddenly, Jericho felt eyes on him. He turned, and that of tiny black birds, with brightly glowing red hues, met his gaze. He was starting to calm down a bit…While he was still certainly unnerved, he wasn't panicking anymore…that was good; his father had taught him to try and keep his head…A calm mind had a much greater chance of continuing to exist…

That was, until the birds spoke. Then, he jumped. "Turn. Back." They said, each of them speaking in time with the others. He looked at them with a puzzled expression…Until they started to change.

However, in an instant, the little black beaks were filled with jagged white teeth; their bright red eyes changed, where two had been there were now four. All of them suddenly let out a cry, and spread their wings, flying straight toward the blond.

Jericho's eyes widened, and he turned, darting down the path made by the floating land masses, trying to escape the birds. It seemed no matter how fast the boy ran, the black creatures were catching up to him…and then he tripped.

The blond had caught his foot on the gap between the suspended slabs, and hit the one before him hard. He quickly tried to push himself back to his feet, only to find the beasts almost upon him. Jericho shut his eyes tightly, pulling his arms up to protect his head…only to find that he was not being barraged by sharp teeth, razored talons, or feathered wings.

He opened his eyes slowly, just a little bit as though afraid they were just waiting for him to look to attack, to see a mass of blue directly in front of him…Orange to his left. Green to his right...it took him a moment, but he finally realized that these were not just blobs of color…the were cloaks.

"Jericho, get out of here. You don't know what you've gotten yourself into," came a voice he recognized from the blue cloak…This wasn't just a cloak, this was Raven.

He raised his hand to make a protest, but the pink cloak off to his far left spoke suddenly. "Hehe, don't worry! We'll protect you until your out! But you have to hurry, or they're going to rip you apart!" she said with a giggle. This, appeared to be Raven as well…But why would she protect him? That didn't make any sense…

A grey cloak from almost behind him then spoke, "Don't be mad…But your in danger here…" Raven again? But she was so timid…How could there be so many of them?

"Just get going! We've got butt to kick!" ordered the green cloak just to his right. Yet another Raven…These cloaks, these colors…they were different pieces of Raven…These, were aspects of her personality…Then that meant…

This landscape, so black, so red…So cold and empty…Was Raven's mind.

"Get out. Get out NOW," Another voice of Raven's came out of nowhere. He looked around to see which one it had come from, but it hadn't been any of the ones in his line of vision…Suddenly, strong hands gripped him by the shoulders, dragging him to his feet.

Surprised, he saw that the one pulling him was a Raven clad in red…With four, glowing red eyes, just as those of the birds that had attacked him. "I said, get out!" she growled at him, one hand still clutching his shoulder, the other moving to his neck.

"Put him down!" The blue Raven had apparently noticed the red, and jumped back, the others closing in to block the birds from the opening that had been left after she moved.

"….Fine." Said the red, who suddenly tossed the little blonde off of the floating platform of rock they were standing on, down into the abyss.

"Jericho!" shouted the blue Raven, reaching out over the edge, hoping to catch him…but she missed his hand. He was falling….And it was terrifying.

He was falling, farther and farther and farther…it felt like he was never going to stop! He had to focus; he had to eject…He had to …He needed to focus! The blonde shut his eyes tightly, concentrating only on escaping from Raven's mind

…He could feel it….Something was trying to keep him in….That red one, she wanted him to fall! She wanted him to disappear into nothingness! But he wouldn't. He would see the end of the Teen Titans! He would make sure they would never hurt anyone again like they had Herald!

He forced himself to leave her mind, but it felt like he was crashing headfirst through a brick wall…Which is exactly what he hit when he finally managed to leave Raven. Jericho lay unconscious on the ground against the wall, a slight smile on his face…At least he had managed to hold them for a time…

Raven's head snapped up, eyes wide, "He was really trying to kill us…or hold us off while Slade escaped…whichever he could manage…"

"…We'll figure out what's going on after we get him back to the tower…" said Robin, as he picked up the limp mute, and slung him over his shoulder. With that, the Titans headed back to the T-Ship, eager to get their friend home and find out just what had happened to him.


	15. Constraints

**Hey everyone! Okay, so, I know its been like...Forever, since i got a new chapter up. SO, I tried to make this one a little longer...And so we all know, this chapter was weirdly pudding inspired. I was eating chocolate pudding, and thought to myself "Hm. Now I really want to work on my fic some more..."...Right. Well, pudding aside, I'm sure you guys don't care. ^__^* I've got the next to chapters plotted (not written, just plotted). Oh, and if you got the alert for this twice, I had to take it down once 'cause I forgot something, but its better now. ^__^* Um....right! So, enjoy...And again, I'm sorry my chapters always take so long, you guys are fantastic for actually bothering to hang in there. *Hugs and cookies to all*...*cough* I'll shut up and let you read now.*cough*...and remember, reviews are always loved!!!  
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Ch. 15 – Constraints

"Are you sure we have to do this…?" A voice…?

"He's not going to listen to us if we don't, BB…" Two of them…Arguing? Over what?

"We're not even sure he'll listen to us if we do." Another one…What was going on?

"Yeah…but…This doesn't really seem like a great way to earn trust back, does it?"

Jericho opened his eyes, only to have them met by thick white fabric…He was blindfolded…What was happening?...He tried to remember…

The fight in the Masque…He had been doing well…Slade would have been proud of him, but he wasn't there…Jericho was making time for his escape…He was a good son…

Then the memory of_ that_ place hit him…The inky black sky, only broken by patches of red…the birds with their razor teeth…The different colors, and sides, of Raven's personality…

The Blue one, the one he had always met on the surface…She had been defending him…Why? If she had been so quick to torture him before…So quick to kill his best friend for what seemed to him like association alone, why would she try and protect Slade's child?

That question was quickly forgotten, however, when he remembered what he had been protected from…That red one…Her four burning red eyes…Those he remembered all too well. She had wanted him to fall. She had wanted him to die…That was a Raven that made sense in the world he had come to realize was only too true since Slade had saved him.

He moved to push the blindfold up at once, make quick work of the Titans in the room, and then bolt back to his father as quickly as possible…But his hands wouldn't move. Again, Jericho tried to move them, only finding his wrists held down by thick straps…They felt like leather…

There were more, too…On his ankles…His waist…and one across his chest. They really weren't taking any chances with this, were they?

"It has to be this way, Beast Boy. Jericho attacked us. Until we can convince him we're not the enemy, we shouldn't give him another opportunity," Raven's voice seemed the most unsure out of any of them.

"Look, I know what your saying bu-"The voice the mute recognized as Cyborg's was cut off.

"Guys…He's awake," That was Raven's voice again. Suddenly, the arguing stopped.

He could hear the shuffle of feet as they walked around…wherever he was, finally coming to a stop next to him.

The little blond struggled fiercely against his bonds, sure that next up was only more pain…His enemies were going to hurt him…Slade had made sure he wouldn't doubt that…

"Jericho, _Jericho! _Calm down! You're going to hurt yourself!" That was Cyborg's voice…Why did he care?

Suddenly the blindfold was taken off of his eyes, and at once, he knew enough to use his power. Brilliantly glowing green eyes were the first sight to meet those of the three protectively-goggled Titans…Jericho relaxed, letting his power fade, as he realized there was nothing he could use it for in this situation.

He looked around, trying to figure out more of what was going on…He was strapped down to a bed…A hospital bed, surrounded by medical equipment, in a large white room…He knew this place.

It was the medical wing of the Titans Tower…After the fight with the Brotherhood of Evil, he had spent time helping out, trying to take care of the Titans who had been hurt in the fight.... He was starting to regret that.

"I'm sorry about all this…But we knew you wouldn't listen," It was Cyborg again…Jericho silently laughed; It was eerie how similar this situation was to his first contact with Slade at the beginning of all this…

"I'll go get Robin and Star," said Beast Boy, hurrying out of the room as the doors silently slid open, and automatically closed behind him.

Jericho appeared to be ignoring the whole conversation, but in truth, he was nervous. Here he was, strapped down, while those who would hurt him prevented him from using his power to stop them.

"Jericho, what's been going on? Why'd you join up with a criminal like Slade?" asked Cyborg calmly, though it was clear he wanted some answers…They had waited this long to get the chance to figure things out, he wasn't going to waste it.

Of course, he forgot one vital point in asking that question: Jericho couldn't respond. The mute rolled his eyes. How could they expect him to answer anything with his hands strapped down like they were? Not that he would if he could have communicated his response.

All the while, Raven had been silent. She stood slightly away from his bed, with her hood up, watching him carefully.

After just a moment, Cyborg sighed, and gave up…He knew better than to ask Jericho questions like this, but he couldn't help his curiosity…and anxiety. For all he knew, the blond really was their enemy.

That was when the half-robotic Titan noticed something; BB had left the extra pairs of goggles behind…Robin and Star couldn't walk in without them. "I'll be right back, keep an eye on him, will you Rae?" he asked, as he started for the door with the eye-wear in hand.

Raven nodded, and said "Sure," but then turned her attention back to Jericho. She studied him for what felt like an eternity to the blonde boy…What was she thinking? More ways to hurt him?

Jericho was just resigning himself to the doubtlessly oncoming pain, when the door slid open again…Just what he needed; the other four titans were back…And Starfire was carrying a tray of food.

"Here friend Jericho, you must eat, and recover your strength," said the Tamaranian, as she placed the tray down on a table next to him, picked up a spoonful of soup, and held it out to him since he couldn't very well eat without the use of his hands.

The mute stared at it first, and then her…While it looked normal enough (implying that she hadn't been the one to prepare it,) Jericho knew better than to eat it…How stupid did the Titans think he was? There was no doubt in his mind that they had done something to the meal…and whatever it was, it couldn't have been for his sake.

He turned his head away from the offering of food, refusing to give it even a second thought.

"Jericho man, you have to eat…"said Cyborg, a bit surprised by the blonde's reaction.

That was when Robin stepped in, "…Just leave it there, Star. He'll eat when he's ready." Of course; the leader was going to starve him until he gave in and ate the tainted meal…

"But Robin…" Starfire had a worried look on her face, no doubt a façade, but she didn't put the spoon down.

"Come on Star…Maybe he'll be hungry later," said the dark-haired leader, putting a hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, the alien girl returned the spoon to the dish…

From that point on, Jericho had someone in the room with him at all times. He usually had some sense of just who it was guarding him, even though they kept him blindfolded…Apparently, this way was easier for them than wearing those accursed goggles.

Sometimes, Beast Boy or Starfire would try and talk to him. Starfire would tell him how well he was doing, and that they really were just trying to help him…The green Titan tried out his jokes, and mistook Jericho's lack of laughter as part of the blonde's eternal silence. The other three titans simply watched over him in silence, but even so, he could usually tell the difference…

Cyborg was the most obvious; his footsteps were louder than the others...He always got the feeling he was being analyzed whenever Raven was his guard…However, when Robin was watching him, sometimes he almost forgot there was anyone else in the room.

Several times a day, they would bring in new trays of food for him, taking the previous tray away still untouched after he refused to eat once again…They all seemed to think he would eat "sooner or later."

No matter how hungry he got, though, the blonde refused to even taste the food. However, there was nothing he could do on the morning of the third day of his captivity, when the dark-haired leader pierced his arm with an IV…Robin claimed it was for his own good, to keep him from getting dehydrated, but Jericho fought him the whole while he was preparing the needle.

Once it was in his vein, Jericho didn't feel any different…He thought for sure though, it was only a matter of time. When after several hours, he still felt normal, the blonde simply thought that whatever the solution in the drip really was, it must have been subtle acting to keep it from his notice.

It seemed they were trying to prevent Slade from rescuing him…Or, perhaps the truth was that they were trying to draw his father out…Maybe Jericho was just the bait…If that was the case, then that would explain for certain why they were keeping him alive…For the moment. Obviously they were just going to let him stay that way until the masked man really did come to save Jericho…Then, the both of them would be killed…That just made it all the more important that he escape before Slade walked into the Titan's trap…

It was a week from the beginning of his captivity that Jericho finally got his chance to escape…Starfire had been in the middle of telling him a story about her life on Tamaran, when his IV ran out…As she got up to retrieve a fresh bag, he listened for her footsteps to lead away into the closet where they were kept. He started fighting his bonds the moment he thought she couldn't see him…

Just as he started to hear the return of her steps, he managed to get the knot on his blindfold down to his neck. He turned his head quickly left and right, and managed to get it down onto his nose just as she came back into his line of sight.

Starfire dropped the fresh IV in surprise, just as her eyes met his glowing green ones, and he ghosted free of his bonds to possess her.

A smile crept across the Tamaranian's face, as he flexed the muscles in her fingers…He felt strong…She really was a force to be reckoned with…Now that he had tasted her power first hand, Jericho would have to watch out for her in the future…Now he just needed to come up with a good reason for Starfire to leave during her watch…

Soup had been on today's menu again…and fortunately, it had gone cold. That would do well enough. He walked her over, and picked up the tray, before leaving the medical wing…If Jericho could just get outside, he would be free again…

Despite the fact he knew Starfire could fly, he didn't know if he could make her power work on his own…if "the joy of flight" was all it took, normally that would be simple…but he was scared…He knew he wouldn't get another chance like this…There would be no second chance at escape. With that thought hanging over his head, he couldn't possibly get Star's feet off the ground.

He made it down to the third floor off the ground without seeing anyone…That was when he ran almost literally into the dark-haired leader.

"Starfire? What are you doing down here? Isn't it your watch?" he asked, sounding surprised to see her.

"Yes Robin, it is. However, Jericho has finally decided to eat something. I thought it would be good to bring him fresh soup," The blonde was trying to match Starfire's speech patterns as best he could, but it was truthfully a little difficult…Fortunately, he thought he could probably manage it, since he had been listening to her talk for hours a day as of late…

"Well, did you get someone to cover for you?" asked Robin, hoping she had; he didn't want to take any chances when it came to their mute friend's safety.

"Yes, Raven is with him," replied Star's voice…He was getting nervous; why couldn't Robin just get on with it and let him go? The longer he stayed, the more likely he was to slip up…

"Oh, that's great then. How's he doing?" Why was Robin asking all these questions?! It was frustrating…

"He's fine," Replied Jericho, as he hurried Starfire's body past the Titan…That was when he felt a hand on his host's shoulder.

As he looked back over at Robin, the dark haired leader said "Stop right there…Jericho." Robin hit a button on his communicator, and the alarm inside Titan's tower was set off…The other Titans would be there any minute…of that, he had no doubt...Jericho knew he had to make his escape quickly.

"How did you know?" he asked, tossing the tray of cold soup at him, and using Star's extra strength to jump her body away from Robin.

The dark-haired boy dodged the tray easily. "Starfire doesn't use contractions…But that's not the point. You need to come back upstairs…We're doing this for your own good-"but before Robin could finish his sentence, he had to move out of the way of a pair of starbolts.

"Lies! I won't listen to you!" said Jericho…Apparently, he wasn't having any trouble using righteous fury, as he threw another pair of starbolts at Robin.

That was when a rather large red X flew out of nowhere, and wrapped itself around Starfire's torso. "What the…?!"Jericho exclaimed, as his host was rendered more or less useless for his purposes.

"I've been keeping these on hand…Just incase you did manage to get a hold of one of us," Said Robin, as he held up several of the tools he had used against his friends while posing as Red X…He was never one to be unprepared.

Jericho glared at him with Starfire's eyes, before turning away, and jumping out of her body; he had to get outside, before Robin could catch up to him…Undoubtedly, the boy leader had something prepared in the event that he himself had been the one the mute tried to possess.

Fortunately, he wasn't high off the ground anymore…And just ahead of him was a window. If he could make it to that window, he was out… He ran harder…He just needed to get one foot in front of the other, that's all there was to it! He was almost there…

Jericho tucked his legs in, and protected his neck, as he jumped through the glass and out into the clear sunlight…Yes! He had made it! He was free…He smiled as he saw his feet heading down toward the grass only feet below him…

Until the mute came to a sudden and unpleasant stop…a box of darkness surrounded him, holding him in place mere inches off the ground…

"Don't worry Robin, I've got him…"Jericho looked to his left, only to see Raven standing there, using her power to trap him…He knew what this meant…He had one chance to escape, and he had failed.


	16. Breach

**Sorry about the long wait everyone. I know it got ridiculous there...and then stabbed ridiculous to death and moved on to Joker levels of crazy. But! It is my code of honor not to let a fic die! That's right, this will continue until it is done! Though...it...may take a while. *cough* ...Sorry in advance. I'm not really sure how this chapter turned out. I mean, I like it...But I got crazy writers block like four months ago in the middle, and then picked it up again two days ago. There's one chunk where it's from multiple perspectives...sort of...so...that's what's with the ~~~ section. .This chapter was not pudding inspired, like the last one, but...Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten pudding since the last chapter...Maybe I should consider eating more pudding...  
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**Side note: Hugs to Chubby Cheesy Goo. Just because you're awesome.**

**Side note on the side note: Hugs to everyone else too, 'cause you are also awesome.**

**SO, to wrap things up for this chapter, sorry again about the atrocious (verging on war crimes) length of time between chapters, and a giant thank you to anyone who has actually stuck around.  
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Ch. 16 – Breach

The Boy Wonder sighed…That had been all too close; If Raven hadn't been so quick to catch up to Jericho…Robin shook his head. He couldn't let It happen again…They couldn't allow their friend to fall back into Slade's grip.

The little blonde had not gone back to his captivity without a fight The dark-haired leader couldn't remember seeing the green glow fade from Jericho's eyes for a moment between the time that they managed to catch him and the time they finally got the blindfold secured back over his eyes in the hospital wing.

This time, Robin made sure to wrap the cloth higher onto the mute's brow, hoping that would prevent another incident…Jericho hadn't made that easy either, considering how he was struggling against them the whole time the other Titans tried to get him tied back down.

Even after they had gotten the straps buckled, Jericho wouldn't stop fighting…In the end, the Titans had to sedate him…The way he was carrying on, if they hadn't he would have undoubtedly hurt himself…

"Robin?"

Starfire's voice pulled him out of his musings. He had lost track of what he had been doing, and when after 10 minutes of his staring at the same small chunk of a very long list of places Slade could be hiding, the Tamaranian thought it best to say something.

"Huh? What is it Star?" He asked, blinking slightly to clear his head. The Boy Wonder realized he'd forgotten to do that sometime in the last minute or so…

"I am…Concerned. For you, and for Jericho. We will find Slade, and we will make him fix Jericho…You do not need to worry…"A small smile crossed the alien girl's face, hoping that would console her friend, at least a little.

"Starfire, it's not that easy. We can't just…Make Slade 'fix' whatever he's been doing…We don't even know what that is…and even if we could, more often than not we don't find out where he's hiding until it's too late to catch him," Robin didn't like admitting the last part, but he couldn't deny the truth to it.

"Robin…In the past, when we have had need to find Slade, there were only the five of us…Now, there are many Titans, around the world, looking for him. He cannot stay hidden forever," Though Star knew just how stubborn the team leader was when he decided to be a pessimist, she wasn't going to give up; not this time.

Unfortunately, that almost seemed to make the dark-haired teen more upset. "I've studied Slade. I know how he thinks…Starfire, if I can't find Slade, why should any of the others have any better luck?" He hadn't meant to snap…He was just so frustrated with all that had been going on…He was angry with himself for letting it happen.

Starfire tilted her head, ever so slightly, and stared at him a moment, reading his expression. The look on her face seemed to ignore the tone his voice had taken, despite the fact that this particular Tamaranian was not shy with her emotions…She knew he was just upset, and not really angry with her…The orange girl continued to simply stare at him a moment, until she said, "You are not to blame for what has happened. You may know how Slade thinks, but you cannot predict the future. You could not have known."

That, caught Robin off guard. He had been blaming himself, she was right about that…But it was his fault. If he could have just foreseen something like this from Slade, anything even remotely close to this…Maybe they could have been prepared….Maybe this wouldn't have happened…

"…It is my fault. When it comes to Slade, I should be able to predict what he does…" replied Robin, with a slightly bitter note to his tone. The Boy Wonder couldn't help but think that something like this would never have happened to the Dark Knight…

"No…Robin, you cannot think like that. You know more about Slade than anyone, and that is something…"Star tried to encourage the other Titan to keep his spirits up, but he didn't seem to want to listen.

"Starfire, think about how long we've been fighting him! Think about how much he knows about us! I should be better than this! I should have caught him by now!" Robin slammed his fists on the table, and then put his head in his hands.

After a moment, he looked up at the Tamaranian, with a little sigh. "I'm sorry, Star…I'm just…I'm worried, about Jericho…If I had just managed to capture Slade before now….None of this would have happened…" muttered the dark haired leader. Somehow, he seemed determined to maintain his sullen mood.

"But Robin…"Starfire didn't get a chance to finish the attempt to comfort him, as

suddenly the tower was filled with flashing red lights.

"…Security breach…." Robin sat up quickly, his self-loathing forgotten for the moment, as he rushed to the computer, trying to isolate where the intruder was located…Of course, there was no doubt in his mind who it was…Slade seemed to take cues from the devil; speak his name, and he would appear.

The other Titans were quick to rush to the computer as well from their various corners of the Titans Tower, save for Raven, who was on her shift with Jericho.

"Robin, what's goin' on?" Asked Cyborg, as he met their leader at the computer, turning his eyes to the screen.

"Someone broke into the tower…And I don't need three guesses who it could be…" replied the Boy Wonder, through slightly grit teeth. After what seemed all too long, he and Cyborg had managed to isolate the area of the breach.

"…Why would he come into the basement…?" said Cyborg, the only one to voice his confusion at what could possibly be Slade's plan. It didn't make any sense….He couldn't get much farther away from the silent blond…What could he be thinking…?

"We don't have time to wonder now…We've got to keep him away from Jericho." He pulled his communicator from his pocket, calling up to the blue-clad girl, "Raven, initialize the quarantine protocols, that should keep Jericho safe. We need you down here. Titans, let's move!" Without another thought, Robin turned and ran from the room, leading the others in heading toward the lower levels of the Tower.

They rushed downstairs, Raven ghosting through the floors to reach it before the others. "Guys, I don't see anyone down here…." She whispered into the communicator…The basement appeared deserted…Even the layer of dust coating the ground seemed undisturbed…

"Keep looking. The alarms didn't just go off on their own," replied Robin, as they hurried to meet her.

What the Titans didn't realize was that nothing had needed to touch the floor; Slade's robotic spiders had already gotten into the air ducts. As they raced down to the basement, the machines scurried upward, toward the medical wing.

Soon, Jericho could hear something. He opened his eyes, seeing the red light occasionally as it spun to shine onto the blindfold. He couldn't tell quite where the sound was coming from…It certainly couldn't have been coming from anywhere near him…He had seen the defenses of the medical wing under quarantine before; he honestly couldn't imagine anything getting in past them.

If he had been able to see, he would have noticed the white spot forming on the metal shield over the air vent. It wasn't a large spot, but steadily it grew bigger, and brighter, gaining an orange ring around the edge as it heated. Soon, a small hole, only about half an inch in diameter had been burned straight through. The Slade bot that had been burning the opening moved back, and a second moved forward, slipping its leg down into the hole.

The bound Titan started to cough…The air in the room had gained a strange feeling to it…He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like he remembered it somehow…Even the vague remembrance made him uncomfortable…Why was that? If the Titans came back, it's not like he wouldn't hear them…For the moment, their distraction was his safety, or so he thought.

The bot removed it's leg after it finished releasing the toxin into the medical wing, and moved out of the way so a third robot could seal the hole shut. As the third moved forward, the second moved back to assist the first, where it had cut into the side of the vent to expose the wiring of the security system…Just a few more wires…They were programmed to time this perfectly according to schedule…

As the hole in the shield to the air vent finished sealing, the spider robots scurried away, with only seconds to spare before the coverings slid back from the vent, and windows, leaving the door sealed.

The blinking red light subsided; Jericho tensed slightly…Apparently, whatever the problem was, the Titans had taken care of it…His watchdog would be back any second…

In that moment, Jericho smiled a little grimly to himself; he could hardly think he would miss the sound of the door sliding open, and five pairs of feet walking in through them. Great…All five of them had come back. He didn't think that was a good sign…

"Robin, wait! We can't kill him yet…"That was Raven's voice. Somehow, Jericho felt his mood blacken...Regardless of the truth, he had seemingly held onto a shred of hope that he was wrong…He wanted to laugh at his own stupidity…Even if he hadn't wanted that hope, he had it; now it was definitely gone.

"Raven, Slade got away. He knows we're just using this traitor as bait…It's better to kill him now than wait to be surprised when he comes back next time," Robin. Cold, calculating, logical bastard…the mute fumed silently. So he had been right about that too…They were keeping him alive for no reason other than to draw out his father!

All that time he had spent, listening to the endless hours of drivel from Starfire, the horrible jokes from Beast boy, and the stubborn silence from the others, all the while they tried to convince him they were friends, that Slade had tricked him…Lies. All of it was nothing but lies.

"Raven, what are you doing?" Robin sounded muffled as he said this, and farther away than he had been, but the mute didn't bother to question it. Jericho wished he could see, wished he could glare at the cloaked girl, whatever it was she was planning…Wished he could strike out at them all.

He realized that he was suddenly pulling on the restraints in anger, struggling uselessly to break free. He hadn't even noticed that he was doing it…The little blond heard the footsteps moving closer to him…

When the quarantine had been lifted, the real Robin knew within moments, as the alarm on his communicator went off; he had set it just in case, wanting to make sure he knew what was going on. That was when he realized that getting them away from Jericho had been Slade's plan all along. The Titans rushed back upstairs, hurrying to get to their friend before it was too late. However, as they reached the doors to the medical wing, they found them still locked down.

Cyborg glowered, immediately switching to use the same small chainsaw blade he had tried to cut through the door with last time, but Raven moved into his path, blocking the way.

"Raven, what are you doing?" said the Boy Wonder, wondering what she could be thinking.

"We can't go in there. It's flooded with gas made from that dust," She had sensed it the moment they got close to the door. No matter how she feared for Jericho, she wasn't going to let her other friends risk themselves as well…Six Titans under the influence of a hallucinogenic toxin was the last thing they needed.

"But…We cannot just leave him in there then!" said Starfire, remembering what had happened while Robin had been dosed, and how the mute had looked when they saw him that first time after his disappearance…

"No, what we can't do is go in there. We're no good to him if we're fighting shadows too," She replied, moving away from the door, and over to the environmental controls.

Without asking what the blue clad girl was intending to do, Cyborg moved over to look at the screen over her shoulder, watching her adjust the settings.

"We have to filter the air out, or we risk being exposed," She glanced over her shoulder to the half-metal Titan, and added, "While I'm doing this, see what you can do about getting the door open." A nod was the only reply she got before Cyborg set to work as well.

Within seconds though, they heard the sound of the window of the blocked room shattering.

Jericho jumped slightly as he heard the glass he knew to be on the left side of the room shatter, shards of the window hitting the floor and ringing like tiny bells…By the sound, Jericho could tell it had broken inward…

"Get away from him!" It was his father's voice! Slade had come for him! He felt hope rising up in him again. He was going to be saved! He could still rid the world of the Teen Titans and their careless disregard for a person's deeds…He could still get justice for his friend; justice for Herald's death.

"Titans, go!" Jericho knew that phrase too well, as he heard the fight ensue. He could hear Starbolts hitting machinery, Raven chanting her mantra, and some kind of big cat growling…He could also hear Cyborg's plasma cannon charging before it fired, and then the Titan cried out before getting the chance to use it...Jericho smirked, and assumed his father had taken care of the threat.

Suddenly he heard a birdarang click open, and felt something stab into his neck…The little mute felt the world go quiet for a moment...One flick of the wrist, and Robin could slit his throat….The point of the blade was so fine…

In an instant it was withdrawn, and the blond heard Robin being knocked away from him, before Slade quickly cut him loose, picking his son up in his arms, and running….As they ran for the window, Jericho feeling the fresh air just begin to brush his face, he heard the door open again..

"Jericho! Slade, stop!" the real Robin shouted, running after them. Unfortunately, by that time, the masked man had enough of a lead, and simply grabbed the rope he had used to scale the tower in one hand, holding his child tightly with the other, and repelled quickly to the ground.

"Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy!" The dark haired leader had but to say their names, and the three knew what he wanted them to do; they flew from the room after the pair, catching up just as they reached the small speedboat Slade had used to get to the tower.

As Slade reached the boat, he froze, and slipped something out of his pocket. "I wouldn't get any closer, Titans," he said, holding the long tube-shaped object in one hand, still carrying Jericho with the other, "That is, unless you don't care about the people of Jump City…"

"Slade, put him down!" Starfire shouted, eyes glowing as she held starbolts ready, but she didn't move.

"I have placed five bombs throughout the city. You have twenty minutes to find and disable them…Or, I could simply detonate them now with this," He raised the detonator clenched in his fist ever so slightly.

Wait…What was his father doing? Jericho gave him a shocked look…The Titans had told him Slade did things like this all the time…Hurt innocent people…But…The little mute had never had any proof of it before…But…But the Titans were the ones who were wrong, they were the villains! Not Slade…Slade had saved him...

"If you fan out, you might be able to make it…Might be able to save your precious city…They are located on the pier, the main bridge, the roof of Jump City High School, City Hall, and the outer wall of the Maximum Security Prison…Assuming you want to keep your city from a fate you can more than likely imagine, I would get moving…Tick tock, Titans…" Said the masked man, as he slowly backed onto the boat, still holding his son, keeping his eye on the three super-teens before them.

Beast Boy started to growl a little, but Raven put a hand on his shoulder. "Robin. We can't chase after Slade…" She mumbled into her communicator, not liking the situation at all, but knowing they had no choice…They couldn't put Jericho above the safety of the city.

"What? You're just letting him get away?" Robin shouted, the image behind him that of the blurred hallways of the tower as he raced toward them, Cyborg at his heels.

"He's placed explosives in the city, due to go off in less than 20 minutes. They are our priority," She responded, turning her back to the boat, and flying toward the opposite shore. She didn't have time to wait for Robin and Cyborg.

As much as he hated to admit it, Robin knew she was right. He was furious to acknowledge that fact, furious to have to let Slade get away…But bombs? The Titans were there to Protect Jump City…If they chose to go after Jericho and Slade, and the bombs detonated…It would be their fault.

"Fine. Send us the locations…" The leader mumbled, as he changed direction to head for the garage.

Starfire and Beast Boy only lingered a moment more, watching their blond friend as Slade set him down in the back of the boat, and he didn't move…He didn't make any attempt to escape, or get away, even after the speech about the bombs…Without sparing any time to give it more thought, the pair hurried after Raven.

Quickly, Slade started the boat, and sped away from the direction the Teen Titans had gone, wanting to put some distance between them before Robin and Cyborg headed for the city. Jericho watched the tower shrink away behind them, until at last his father pulled up alongside a dock far from their pursuers.

"Come on Jericho…" Slade made to help his son up, but rather than take the hand, the mute signed mistrustfully at his father, wondering how he could do such a thing as planting bombs that would hurt innocent people.

"…There are no bombs, Jericho. I lied…It was the only thing I could think of to get you away from them," Said Slade calmly, his one meeting his child's eyes. Jericho looked up at him curiously. "…They have painted me as the villain in their stories…That doesn't mean I am one. I admit…My…Personal choices have not always been morally sound, but that doesn't mean I'm evil," A confession, a sob story, and remorse, followed by defensiveness…By the look on the blonde's face, Slade could tell that his choice of words had been the perfect mix to deceive the boy…With a few simple phrases, Jericho trusted him again…That was the thing about trust…If someone really wanted to trust you, almost anything you said would give them a reason to.

Jericho took his hand then, allowing his father to help him to his feet…He knew Slade couldn't have done something like that...After all, he may not have been able to see it, but the masked man had saved him from the true villains, the Teen Titans, yet again…Surely, that had to count for something…


	17. Sentinel System

**Well damn; I got a second chapter out in a week...That's got to be some kind of record for me. Um...Hey again? Sheesh, normally I fill this space up with apologies about how long it took to get a chapter out...but...Er...Just...Consider this a nice bonus for having to wait so long for the previous one? It's not as long as the previous, but longer than most, so...Yeah. Still shocked over here. Especially since I'm pretty happy with this chapter...Huh.**

**Yeah...So! It's finally revealed just what that stolen chip from Wayne Enterprises was for. Yeah.  
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**I would also specifically like to thank PhantomGirl12, and Rena Redhead, who I forgot to mention in the last chapter to thank. Rena, as always, your reviews are amazing. **

**...If you're still reading this, well...dang. So...I'll be quiet now.**

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Ch. 17 – Sentinel System

Slade led Jericho down a manhole cover near where he had docked the boat, wanting to stay as far off of the Teen Titan's radar as possible. They proceeded through the sewers for miles, for the most part fortunate enough to have concrete paths above the water line to walk on lining either side of the tunnels. Slade moved swiftly, but always checked to make sure his son wasn't having trouble keeping up…After all, the Titans had held him prisoner for several days…It was only reasonable of the masked man to assume he would be slowed.

However, Jericho found he wasn't…He seemed to be in fairly decent health, if very hungry…The blond was still strong, oddly, thanks to the efforts of the Titans…He found it strange that even with the IV line allowing liquid to flow uninhibited into him, it seemed to really have been nothing but an I.V…He simply couldn't get his head around why they would do such a thing; why they would help him.

"Jericho, it's just a little farther," The mute looked up, realizing he had actually fallen slightly behind while he mused. He quickly caught up to his father, deciding he could figure it out later.

Not ten minutes later, Slade led the boy up a ladder, and through another manhole cover. The apprentice was glad to be back in the open air; the tunnels had made him feel trapped, closed in as they were.

The pair hurried down the near by alleys of downtown Jump City, until they were finally greeted by some of Slade's drones, which had been standing guard dressed as common thugs outside an old fire station, that looked as though it had been renovated some time on the far end of 40 years to be converted into a gallery of some kind... The space was vacant now, but not up for sale…Jericho supposed that the deed more than likely had the owner's family name listed as Wilson.

From the exterior, it the building appeared not to have been inhabited, or even entered for many years. The inside, was another story.

Inside, Slade had been hard at work, molding the place into a suitable location for his needs. He had installed security systems for the area, up to 100 yards in any direction from the exterior walls; he had equipped the inner rooms with laser detection systems; a room on the third floor had been converted to a command center, his usual wall of computer monitors set already installed and ready to receive information.

His father mentioned briefly when explaining their new home that he had converted the two basement levels into a lab of some sort, but wouldn't go into what he was working on. Slade simply said that it was something 'special' for Jericho, and it wasn't quite ready yet, but it wouldn't be much longer.

"Why don't you go get yourself something to eat, and rest? You must be tired…"Slade's voice was calming as he placed one of his strong hands on his child's shoulder. His tone showed his relief to have Jericho back safe and sound.

The blond nodded, smiling slightly at the thought of food. He felt good; content, to be with his father like this…Working as a team for something greater…

On the third floor, just off of the main room, Slade had prepared another room for Jericho to rest in. The color scheme was not as it had been in the manor, but mostly the same as throughout the rest of the building; off-white walls, and dark carpet, but the comforter was his favorite dark blue. The mute smiled at the sight…

Also on the third floor was a small kitchen, possibly which had been used in the building's original days as a firehouse. Slade had updated the appliances, and stocked it with food enough for the two of them. Jericho grinned at that sight. He opened the fridge at once, finding whatever didn't need preparation and happily digging in. He didn't remember the last time food had tasted so good…

As he closed the stainless steel door to the refrigerator, he paused a moment, noticing something strange…He put down the bowl of fruit he'd taken out, and found his way to the bathroom, to check in the mirror.

The mute confusedly looked at his reflection, tugging on the collar of his black and orange uniform a bit, wondering where the mark was…Surely, a birdarang, even as sharp as it was, would have left some kind of mark when it pierced his neck…Eventually he found it, a small puncture wound, like from a needle…He had expected it to be bigger…

Meanwhile, the Teen Titans had only barely managed to reach the explosives in time…In truth, Slade had told a lie, but not to them. It had been a close call, Starfire flying to the farthest bomb from the tower, the one on the prison, only just had enough time to remove it and detonate it from a distance in a safe place with one of her starbolt. Had she been any later, and more than a few enemies of the Teen Titans would have been back out on the streets of Jump City.

"Robin, I have destroyed the bomb. I am returning to the tower," She said, as she called to the others on her communicator. The other bombs had been closer, and thus, the other four had already gathered there.

"Hurry back. We're going after them," Robin hung up quickly, too busy to wait for more. He typed furiously, sending out a message to any Titans in the area, calling for backup…He knew Slade couldn't have gotten far; He would still be in Jump City…If they could only close him in, keep him there, they stood a chance.

From his left, Cyborg suddenly looked up. The boy wonder barely quirked an eyebrow, wondering why the other Titan had stopped. "What is it?" He asked, knowing that the half-robotic Titan must have found something.

"Look at this," Said Cyborg, moving a step to the side to let Robin have a look at his screen, "The Tower's defenses are picking something up…Three things, in fact, that don't belong here."

"Any idea what they are?" Robin glanced up from the screen to the other's face.

"…Not a clue…But when we checked out the shielding from the quarantine lock down, something had drilled a hole straight through some of it…I figure that's how Slade filled the room with the toxin…If these things are what did that for him, they might still have some of it with them," Cyborg mused, remembering what Scarecrow had told them…If they managed to re-expose Jericho to the toxin, and prove to him it wasn't real…Maybe they could shake him from it's influence…

Robin seemingly came to the same realization. "Whatever they are, they're ours now," he said, determined to capture the things that had dosed their friend. And if they had gone through the air ducts to get to the medical wing, he was willing to bet they were still there.

He turned to the other two Titans. "Beast Boy, Raven, do what you can and find whatever it is that's loose in the tower. Catch them whole…And be careful. We think they might have some of the fear toxin Scarecrow sent to Slade in them. Whatever you do, don't get dosed with it."

Beast Boy nodded, transforming into a hummingbird at once, and flying up into the nearest vent; Raven crossed her legs, quietly whispered her mantra, and projected her power after him…They weren't going to let this chance pass them by…

A hand on his shoulder woke the little mute from his sleep. He rolled onto his back, to look up at his father's masked face. "Jericho, it's time to wake up. I have something to show you," Even with the mask on, the blond could practically hear his father smiling.

He rubbed his eyes, and pushed the warm comforter off of himself, getting to his feet at once to follow Slade. Once they reached the ground floor, the masked man led him lower, down into the labs. Apparently, whatever it was that Slade had been working on, he had managed to finish it.

Jericho looked, wide eyed, as he was led down the stairs, taking in all of the various equipment strewn throughout the room. There was everything from Bunsen burners to welding torches…Even if he had the choice of speaking, somehow he thought that the sight would have intrigued him into silence.

Slade led him to a table, that was barren save for a series of strange looking metal disks, shaped like tear drops…No more than two inches wide, and three inches long, they were curved slightly into a very shallow bowl shape, with dozens upon dozens of needles not more than the with of a hair filling them. One of them was slightly different, shaped to incorporate what he noticed was the chip they had stolen…It was protected, and only barely visible in what he assumed to be the lead plate.

At the moment, they were separated, but Jericho could see on the pointed end a slot where they were meant to connect, like the plates of an armadillo's shell…They would join to form a column of some kind...Each plate had wires coming from it, to connect to something else…

"…This, Jericho, is what I have created for you," Said the masked man, glancing down at his apprentice. The boy looked back, not even bothering to sign his question as to just what it was supposed to do.

"…The chip we stole from Wayne Industries was a little bit of technology developed by Brother Blood…He had been using it to assert control over his students, and keep them under his thumb…Once he decided to "upgrade" himself to match Cyborg, and was arrested, they made sure to remove the chip from him, so he couldn't use it on his captors…They seemed to think keeping it in Gotham would keep it out of the hands of those who would oppose the Titans again…" Slade's voice trailed off, only for a moment.

He stepped forward, picking up one of the plates, "Combined with my own Neural Interface technology, I managed to create this…The Sentinel System. This will give you power you've never had before; power enough to stand against the Teen Titans."

Jericho watched his father's movements with elation. He would do it…He would be able to be his father's knight…A sentinel for him, to defeat those who would have killed the little mute for no more than his parentage.

However, Slade's eye held a small note of regret and fear, as he set the plate back on the table. "The process of...installation, is painful. I won't try to hide that from you. If you want to go through with this, it will hurt; quite a lot…"

He moved to a computer screen, pulling up an image of how the plates would link up on a human body; as the mute had expected, they did in fact form a column, along the spine, the lead at the base of the skull, all the way down to the tail bone…The wires would have to be inserted under the skin, flowing up to plates that would be placed at the shoulders, and then being led down to the elbows, terminating in five wires per hand: one for each fingertip.

"These needles will need to be inserted into your spinal cord, to tap in to and enhance your power…The chip itself, will connect directly to your brain stem…Jericho, you need to understand this; This is not going to be something you would enjoy…I won't make you go through with the procedure if you don't want to…But with this…"He sounded as though he wished there were another way, "…This is the key to defeating the Teen Titans. With this, you can make sure they will never be able to hurt another innocent."

Jericho stopped him there. Physical pain he could handle…The Titans had already given him pain…Now, his Father would give him pain as well, but this time he would be rewarded for it…And Herald would have Justice.


	18. Upgrade

**Wow. Okay...So...Considering my previous track record for getting these chapters out, this is...Surprising. Hey there everyone. So...Yeah. Longer chapter again. Unfortunately, Jericho's not exactly in for a pleasant ride...This chapter's got a lot of detail as to what's going on with the actual Sentinel System, and the next is going to have a lot to do with how it works, but then we'll probably get back to Slade and his adorable apprentice actually engaging the Teen Titans! So...Um...Yeah. Thanks for hanging out.  
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**...Annnd, as usual, I'm astonished if anyone is still reading this. So...Suji plays the quiet game now!  
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Ch. 18 – Upgrade

The mute smiled at his father, letting the man know that he was still sure of his decision. He wasn't going to change his mind, or want to back out half way through. Jericho was going to go through with the installation of the Sentinel System…He was going to take down the Teen Titans.

Slade sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I should have known you wouldn't be deterred once you made up your mind…You were just like this as a child," he said, reminiscing slightly.

Jericho didn't know how to respond to that…Honestly, he rarely thought about when his family was still together…He tried to avoid it. His happiness then was something he couldn't get back. Even though his father had finally returned to him, he still made a point to not remember…No matter how he wanted things to be, they were never going to be quite like that again.

"We should begin as soon as possible. I don't know how long it will take the Titans to come after us again, and I want to give you as much time as I can to become used to the system," He said, his one visible eye being drawn back into the present as he spoke.

The little blond nodded, signing that he was ready now. He didn't want to wait any longer…He was impatient. After all, how could he afford to wait, when the Titans might be hurting others? No…He was going to keep things moving as quickly as he possible.

Slade nodded, and taking the metal plates in hand, led Jericho down another flight of stairs, into the sub-basement. Here, a clean room was prepared, an operating table waiting in the middle. However, the mute was surprised to find that in fact, they were no longer alone.

"Doctor…Allow me to introduce my son, Jericho," Slade spoke to the third person, who seemed to have simply been waiting around the lower lab.

"So…This is why you hired me…Finally I get to see them in person," Doctor Chang was immediately more interested in the plates Slade held, as opposed to the boy beside him, "Beautiful…Genius work, Slade…And I was impressed with that suit you made for your last apprentice!"

Jericho blinked, as his father glared at the Doctor. So Doctor Chang was going to be performing his operation…? That made him a bit nervous…Slade, he could believe in, and understand that the Titans had lied about him…But the Doctor? Jericho had fought against him, and almost lost…If it hadn't been for the other Titans who had managed to evade capture, he would have been frozen by the man…

He shook his head…That was then, before they knew his secret…Back when he was still a Titan himself…Those days were just as long gone as his childhood, and there was no sense in dwelling on it…He supposed that if Slade trusted the Doctor enough to let him perform the operation on his son, then Jericho should trust his judgment enough to allow it. After all…The enemy of his enemy and all that…

Finally, Slade cleared his throat, directing the Doctor's attention to his apprentice.

"Oh…Right," Dr. Chang straightened, turning to the boy with a quirked eyebrow, studying him. "You look different from the last time I saw you," he said, examining Jericho slightly, before he turned back to Slade, "…I had been worried, when you told me who the subject was…He was so thin and weak looking when he fought the Brotherhood…I had my doubts that his body would be able to take the installation."

Thin and weak looking? He hadn't been that weak…Sure, his training with his father had certainly made him stronger, but the Doctor made him sound like he had been little more than useless! Jericho crossed his arms indignantly.

Slade glanced from his son, back to the doctor, ignoring the boy's wounded pride. "Have you any worries now?" he asked, unwilling to allow the surgery if that were the case.

The Doctor turned back to the masked man, pausing only for a moment to estimate based on his new view of the little blond. "No. He has enough muscle to support the interface now," he said, clearly having gone over the data and schematics for the Sentinel System beforehand, knowing well the necessary physical attributes for it to function.

"Good. Lets proceed then," Slade said, before turning to his son, and gesturing to a door off to the side, "You should go get changed in there, Jericho. Dr. Chang and I will prepare the system in the mean time."

The mute nodded, and moved away from the two, through the door his father had pointed at. Inside, there was a hook he could hang his uniform on, and a hospital gown waiting for him. The boy blushed slightly at the sight of the gown, not especially liking the open back…After a moment however, he realized how stupid a thing it was to worry about: He was about to go through intensely painful surgery, to give him the power to defeat the Teen Titans, to keep them from hurting other people like they had hurt him…and he was worried about someone seeing his bottom? He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

He took off the plates of his uniform first: upper arms, elbows, forearms, upper legs, knees, and shins, setting them down on a chair inside the room…After wearing them for so long, it felt strange to not be preparing for bed and yet not wear them. Next he removed the metal piece around his neck, followed by the utility belt, and then his boots…

Suddenly Jericho realized how much lighter he felt without them on. Normally when he took of his armor, the mute was so tired from training with his father he barely noticed the difference...However, now that he thought about it, he was surprised to find how heavy they were. He only vaguely remembered thinking about the weight when he first put them on…At that time, they had seemed heavy as well…The boy smiled to himself, finally noticing how much stronger he really had become…

Silently he laughed a bit to himself…So, maybe Dr. Chang had a point. He had been pretty weak before his father came back into his life…

Getting back to what he was doing, Jericho removed the silver S from his uniform, before slipping off the body suit. He hung it on the hook, and picked up the gown, tying it behind him.

Jericho turned and strode from the room, back out into the clean room, finding his father standing off to the one side, and the Doctor next to the operating table…From the look of things, Slade was going to be sticking around for the installation. The apprentice couldn't help but be relieved by that; even if Slade did trust the Doctor, it never hurt to be on the safe side.

"Come lay down, so we can begin," said Dr. Chang. Jericho noticed he now wore white latex gloves for the operation, and the room smelled slightly of disinfectant…Clearly they had cleaned the plates to prepare them for him.

Jericho nodded, walking over, and laying on his stomach on the table, to expose his back for the operation. He was already becoming nervous, and it did not help when he realized the Doctor was strapping his arms to the table. At once, Jericho pulled back, not sure exactly what the man thought he was doing.

"You have no need to worry, Jericho. The Doctor is only doing what is necessary," said Slade, when the boy gave him an inquiring look. "Unfortunately, you will need to be conscious for the first part of the operation to take place…You need to be awake, in order for the connection between your brain and the system to be effective…To that end, we can do nothing to help you with the pain. The straps are necessary to make sure you don't move, and throw off the placement…However, once the main column is connected, we can put you to sleep for the rest."

Peachy…He had at least thought he wouldn't need to be awake for it…He sighed slightly, figuring that it couldn't be avoided…He would simply have to deal with it.

Again he nodded, acquiescing as he lie back down, allowing the Doctor to finish strapping him to the table…Even though he had agreed to this, the mute couldn't deny that this particular measure made him just a bit nervous.

By the time Dr. Chang finished restraining him, Jericho had straps on his wrists, elbows, upper arms, ankles, above and below his knees, his upper legs, waist, upper back, and across the back of his neck; the straps would be removed from the places the plates needed to go, such as his neck and back, only while that area was being operated on. If nothing else, the bound boy was glad he wouldn't be able to move too much to botch the installation…

Slade approached him suddenly, catching the boy's attention, and holding out a small leather strap. "Bite down on this. Trust me," he said, slipping it between his son's lips, knowing the boy would need it.

"I hardly think this warning is going to matter, but do try not to tense up; it will only make the process more painful if your muscles are tight," the Doctor warned, picking up the first plate, which would attach on the low end of his spine. Jericho nodded as best he could, trying to follow the advice.

Doctor Chang saw the small nod, and returned it, saying, "Now beginning the operation…" Suddenly Jericho felt something pressing into the skin of his lower back…Sharp points, hundreds of them, all stabbing into him at once, piercing his skin and sliding slowly farther and farther in.

His eyes widened, breath catching in the mute's throat. Jericho found himself clenching his teeth, biting into the leather strap, and shutting his eyes tightly against the pain. No, he wasn't going to react like this, not yet at least, not when they had only just begun…He wouldn't give his father any reason to think that they should stop.

Despite the horrid feeling, he managed to relax his face a bit, pretending he wasn't bothered, until he felt the base of the hair-thin needles touch against his lower back. Jericho breathed out a soft sigh of relief, the pain turning to a dull throb. He was interested to notice the way the metal of the plate conformed so to the shape of his flesh, moving as though it were naturally a part of him; he could actually feel it flexing with his muscles…

Before he had time to continue evaluating the sensation, Dr. Chang had started on the second plate, pressing it's needles in just next to the previous plate with the point of the teardrop shape overlapping the previous, causing the sensation to begin all over again, only worse, as the flesh above the last was still tender and sore from it's recent skewering.

By the time the column of plates had reached his mid-back, whatever will to appear unbothered he had possessed had left Jericho cold; tears streamed freely form his tightly closed eyes, a silent scream caught in his chest…He felt sure that any moment, he would bite straight through the bit of leather between his teeth…His fists clenched so tightly, he could feel his nails cutting small crimson crescents into his palms.

He wished he could scream. He thought that for sure, if only he could have screamed, it would relieve his pain…He had never wished more that he weren't mute, if only for a few moments, so he could express his torment.

Jericho had never felt anything even remotely close to this before. Every tiny needle sent a wave of pain through is body, and each plate possessed hundreds. White spots danced between his vision and his clenched eyelids. He found somewhere in the back of his mind that he wondered how he hadn't managed to pass out yet…Surely, with this kind of pain, he should have blacked out…

They experienced some trouble, as the Doctor encountered scars left from the Teen Titan's attack on him; Hotspot's burns, and Beast Boy's claws had left the most problematic areas. Because of the marred tissue, Dr. Chang had to proceed even more slowly, drawing out the blonde's suffering. However, it was a better alternative to incorrectly installing the plate, and having to start all over, or potentially even killing the boy.

No matter how it hurt however, Jericho remained resolved. This was the right decision; it was...He knew it was! His father never offered to let him have a moment to rest between placing the plates, and for that, the apprentice was glad; if Slade had, he may have been tempted to accept, even though he knew that would only make it harder to continue when they had to begin again.

Finally, they reached the top of his spine, and were ready to install the final plate, the one containing the chip they had stolen.

Jericho was pale, panting, and exhausted…He knew he had to hold still, but it was hard to do so…Every inch of him ached…He glanced up, as he heard his father approaching him.

"…Jericho, this last plate is the most vital. Without this, the system will not function…However, it will also be significantly more painful than the others, and if you move even a little, this could very well kill you," His voice was quiet, contemplative…

The mute silently groaned and shut his eyes, wishing he could just have it over and done with, but quickly resigned himself. He was going to finish this. His eyelids snapped open to meet the masked man's eye…He was ready.

Slade nodded, acknowledging the look knowingly. At that, he placed his hands on either side of his child's head, intending to hold the boy's head still, as the strap about his neck would have to be removed.

"Here we go, then," The Doctor sounded all too gleeful to be doing this. Jericho tried not to tense up, as had been recommended to him, but in a moment, he felt just how different this plate in particular was.

His eyes watered, but couldn't blink…Jericho simply couldn't force his eyelids to close, as white light flashed before his vision. Sweat beaded quickly on his already drenched brow…He could feel his body thrashing, and his father forcing his head to stay still, even despite the restraints.

The blond hadn't seen the underside of the plate beforehand, but if he had, perhaps he would have reconsidered the operation; it felt, much like what the reality of it was. Initially, beneath this plate was a spike, which pierced the back of his neck. After breaking the skin, it started to fan out into more of the thread-thin needles, spreading themselves to wrap, pierce, and interface with his brain stem.

He knew that if he could, Jericho's screams would have filled the room; they would have made all three sets of ears in the room ring. The mute couldn't have imagined pain like this in the past, nothing even close…but unlike his last torment, this…This pain had a purpose…

The mute felt like time was taunting him, standing still, reveling in the agony he couldn't escape. It felt like more than days, like an incalculable amount of time had passed when finally he felt the plate resting against his skin, the pain dying down to a dull but intense throb throughout his body. Jericho felt his father's hands release his head, and suddenly the man was crouched beside him, so the boy wouldn't have to look up to meet his eye.

"You did well, Jericho…Very well," The mute could see it in his masked gaze that he was smiling, just a little. The one eye darted up to the Doctor, as if to get an evaluation of the situation.

"…The first phase of the operation was a success…The Sentinel Column is connected, and the neural links are responding to him," Jericho could hear the arrogant tone in his voice as the Doctor spoke…Well, at least he hadn't gone through all that for nothing…

The little mute flinched a little, but then relaxed, feeling his father's heavy hand gently muss his hair, and glanced back to the black and orange face…He could feel his father's pride in him…He couldn't help but smile, despite the pain he was still in, and his exhaustion.

Slade picked up a mask that ran to a machine near the table, and placed a mask over the boy's mouth and nose. "Sleep now…We'll take care of the rest…" That was the last thing Jericho remembered before he drifted off.


	19. Training

**Hey! Look! Another chapter!...Wow. Even though this took longer that the previous couple of chapters, still freaking lightning speed for me...Okay, this one is on the details of how the Sentinel System works, and more particularly, how it works with Jericho. Um...Yeah. I haven't got much else to say...So...I'm gonna shut up. ^_^**

* * *

Ch. 19 – Training

There was a voice…Someone saying his name…It sounded far away, almost like Jericho was under water…Slowly, the little mute could feel himself getting closer to the surface, closer to consciousness. His eyelids fluttered open, but he quickly shut them against the light in the room.

He reached up to rub his eyes against the fluorescent irritation, finding in doing so, that he was sore…Ached…In fact, his whole body throbbed; He wasn't going to show that though. Jericho opened his eyes and found his vision blurred this time before rubbing them, trying to force things into focus. When he looked again, he realized the person who had been speaking to him was his father.

"Jericho…How are you feeling?" Asked the masked man, his voice now clear to his son. The masked man was sitting in a chair he had brought into the boy's bedroom, and placed next to the bed while the mute slept.

The blond used his arms to prop himself up, expecting to feel the plates of the Sentinel System move along his back…He felt nothing. He glanced down and twisted a bit, trying to get a glance at his lower back, to make sure they were still there…Indeed, the plates lined his lower back, moving fluidly with his skin and muscles, as though they had always been a part of him.

He looked up, delighted that they had been installed correctly. He signed to his father, asking if the rest of the procedure had gone well, when he noticed thin dark lines on the backs of his hands, under the skin, running all the way to his fingertips…On the pads of his fingers, he noticed that they felt slightly strange, not like they had before…a little bit firmer...As he gently rubbed his first finger and thumb together on his left hand, he glanced up at Slade, asking what that was.

The man smiled behind the mask, the expression showing in his eye. "It's a part of the System. The second part of the installation was much easier. You were very good, Jericho…You've successfully assimilated the Sentinel System. When you are recovered in a few days, I'll explain everything…For now, just rest," He said, clearly glad to see his son already showing interest.

Jericho nodded, looking back to his hands…The dark lines, wires he knew them to be, ran to a point at his wrist, where they joined into a single, slightly thicker line…From there, it ran up the back of his forearms, to his elbows, where he saw another metal plate which moved as though it were his skin. After that, it rose under the layer of skin on his upper arm, connecting to another set of plates on his shoulder…

After that, Jericho couldn't see much of the wire, knowing however that it would split off into a latticework of wire across his back to connect to the plates on his spine. He was surprised to find that even though he could see the wire, he couldn't feel them at all…He had expected them to raise the skin, but they hadn't…He couldn't imagine how the Doctor had managed to do that…

"Now…Jericho, I need to give you a quick check, to make sure nothing was damaged during the procedure," Slade waited until Jericho nodded, and took a small flashlight out of his a pouch on his belt. He shined it into the boy's eyes, examining the reaction of his pupils, shining it back and forth, and having Jericho follow it without moving his head.

Over the next half hour, Slade proceeded to poke and prod Jericho, testing his memory, motor functions, and reactions…Of course, he had no need to check the boy's verbal skills…

"Good. It looks like everything is functioning normally…" He leaned back into the chair, relaxing visibly, clearly glad that everything was in order.

Jericho smiled, somehow liking the sight of his father's relief, even though it had meant that he had been worried.

After a few moments, Slade stood. "I would like to stay with you, but I have a few things to take care of involving Doctor Chang…However, I suggest you get some sleep…And Jericho," He paused a moment, as he had been headed for the door, to look back at the boy, "…Don't try to use your power until I have instructed you in the specifics of the Sentinel System."

The mute was surprised, but nodded, more than willing to make that concession; after all of Slade's hard work, he wasn't going to ruin it now by doing something stupid. He gently laid himself down, his muscles glad that he didn't have to support himself anymore…

Slade kept him in bed for three days, not wanting to overexert the child too soon…On the fourth day, he let Jericho get up, and walk around the third floor, but he refused to allow the boy downstairs until the sixth. The mute had been glad to get out of bed, and eager to go downstairs, but once he was on the stairs, he regretted that.

He was determined to make it down the single flight of stairs, at least, but he found it harder than he thought; his muscles were still sore from their experience acting as a pincushion. Fortunately however, he made it, and the next time he tried, it wasn't quite as hard…After 10 days, Slade said he was ready to begin his training.

Jericho prepared himself quickly, stretching his muscles, and donning all his new equipment…Slade had remade his uniform to display the Sentinel System along his back, and strangely, put a small, flat light on each finger of his gloves…He didn't know quite what they were for, but assumed they were there for something…

Once he was ready, Jericho hurried down the stairs, into the lab, where his father waited. "We'll be training down here…" said the masked man, as he proceeded down to the building's lowest level. The mute was surprised to find that the room the operation had taken palace in had so quickly been converted into a space for his training.

The floors were now padded, and in the corner, a computer monitor was set up. He supposed that must have been for when Slade wanted to specifically measure the power of his new upgrade… Additionally, several of his robots waited along one wall… He noticed now as well, that the walls of the room had panels on them, which he presumed would slide to the side, probably hiding training equipment.

Slade stopped in the middle of the room, allowing Jericho to take in the various changes that had been made since the surgery. When the boy seemed contented, the masked man spoke, "…Now that…Let's cover the basic use of the system first…"

"As you know, the Sentinel System's main body is directly implanted into you spinal cord and from there your nervous system. This allows it to react with a thought, as any of your natural limbs do…You need to think of it in that light, Jericho…This is not just a piece of equipment anymore. It is another limb, an extension of yourself," He seemed to want to stress this point, so as not to have it hold the boy back.

Jericho knew he wouldn't have much trouble with that; it already moved as fluidly as if he had been born with it…He flexed his fingers a bit, still not feeling any trace of the wires he knew to be buried in them, even though they were hidden by his gloves…Honestly, he wondered if he hadn't been able to see the lines, if he would have known they were there.

Noting that the boy was examining his hands, and decided that this was as good a time as any to explain the modifications he had made to his uniform, "…As you can see, I've modified your uniform a bit…You may have noticed a slight difference in the texture of your fingertips…That is not without purpose."

"Your uniform now creates a link with your body via your fingertips…In this way, those lights will react," Jericho gave him a confused look, wondering what his father meant.

Slade's eye showed the smile on his face as he continued, "Now, when you use your power, if you press your first finger and thumb together, you will not ghost into your target…However, you will still gain control of them. Pressing the second finger to your thumb will allow you to take over a second target, without needing to release the first, and so forth for the third and forth finger…As this applies to both hands, you will be able to gain control of up to eight people at a time. The lights on your gloves will illuminate when they are in use."

Eight people at once? He couldn't imagine what that would be like…He had thought that one person had been difficult enough, but…

The masked man read the boy's expression well. "Jericho, the Sentinel System gives you a significant power boost…Where as before, if a target was strong enough they could cast you out, that will no longer be an issue. Your physical self will in fact not be within the targets."

Jericho wondered how that could be…He had always had to ghost into the person before…If he was controlling someone, he wouldn't be able to protect his physical body, would he?

Again, Slade seemed to read his mind, "…When you transition into someone, you become intangible to do so…The Sentinel System does not change that. You will not be able to experience harm while using your power."

The blond blinked. He would have control of eight people, not have to be inside their bodies, and his physical body would be invulnerable? He smiled incredulously…Did this thing have any downsides?

"Now. What do you say to giving it a test run?" Slade waved a hand, and the robots he had kept along the wall moved forward. Jericho gave him a questioning look; he had never taken control of a machine before…He didn't know if he could do it. True, he had possessed things like Cinderblock before, who weren't exactly human, but these things didn't have any sense of life outside the artificial…He signed his doubt to his father, despite his reluctance to disappoint him.

"That isn't something you need to worry about. The Sentinel System will compensate for the difference between your mind, and the artificial minds," he replied.

…And, it could help him take over robots. Jericho couldn't believe all the things his power could do now…

"Alright…Now, lets begin. I want you to fight these four robots," Slade gestured to the four on his left, who wore blue armbands, "…With these four," as he gestured to the four on his right, sporting green.

Jericho nodded, face determined, as he felt his eyes start to glow; making eye contact with the first robot was easier than usual, as these targets were not moving…He was sure they would come to that later…For now, this was just basic training.

Slipping into the robot, he had the strangest feeling…It was like an out of body experience…He could feel his own hand, but he could feel the Sladebot's hands as well. He looked down, finding his form mostly transparent, and the light relating to his left pointer finger glowing brightly.

He glanced up, seeing the robot move as he moved, as it would had he been in it…Now, the real changes began. Illuminating the second light by pressing his left middle finger to his thumb, and making contact with the second robot's eyes, he felt no different. It was not at all how he thought it would be…He had expected it would feel as though his attention were divided completely in half, but it didn't…It simply felt as though he had more attention to give.

He watched the two robots move in sync, then deciding he wanted them to move individually…He had but to think it, and the first robot's hand raised, where the other crouched. Jericho's eyes widened, thinking that the pair had reacted as though he had issued a verbal command.

Amazed, he quickly lit the other two lights on his left hand, taking the remaining two green-banded robots. He found he could move them individually if he wanted, or as a unit…He almost felt more like a tactician than anything else…

Without giving the boy more time to think, Slade flicked his hand, and the blue-banded robots sprang to action. Even caught off guard, Jericho reacted quickly. He moved the four back as a unit, and then fanned them out, focusing his attention on the first robot he had possessed.

Surprised, now, Jericho realized he was looking through the robot's eyes. The more attention he directed at a particular unit he controlled, he could slip his consciousness into it. With this discovery under his belt, the little blond tossed his mind from one to the other, and then moved back to his own body.

Within a minute the mute had used his four robots to take down and pin the other four…He hadn't wanted to damage the attacking Sladebots, assuming they would continue using them for his training, and thus he had simply restrained them.

"Good…Very well done, Jericho…" Slade sounded happy, pleased with his son. Jericho beamed at the praise. He backed his four robots off, allowing the others to get up.

The masked man then instructed him in how to release his control, simply by pressing the desired finger to his thumb a second time. The boy did so, feeling himself become solid again…He made a decision then.

He was going to master this system, completely…And he with it, he was going to have his retribution against the Teen Titans.


End file.
